October 4, 2016

Enough Is Enough® Joins Homeland Security Campaign Urging Families, Educators, and Companies to be More Vigilant Online
 

WASHINGTON, DC— Enough Is Enough® (EIE) joins the National Cyber Security Alliance and the Department of Homeland Security’s Cyber Security Awareness Campaign for National Cyber Security Awareness Month (NCSAM). “Stop.Think.Connect.” is a national public awareness campaign aimed at increasing the understanding of cyber threats and empowering the American public to be safer and more secure online.

"Internet safety and security are a crucial part of parents' lives in today’s digital world,” says Donna Rice Hughes, President of Enough Is Enough®, producer and host of EIE’s award-winning Internet Safety 101® Program to educate and empower parents to protect kids online. “Cyber security awareness month is an ideal reminder to parents to become more aware of their children's activities online, discover what they don’t know and learn how to be their children’s first line of defense. In the ever evolving digital world where kids are constantly connected and dangers are prevalent, parents can feel they are playing whack-a-mole in their attempts to keep kids safe. We encourage parents to have a reality check and recognize that even the smartest most responsible of children are not always immune from online threats. This month, EIE joins hundreds of other organizations to help sure that every parent has the tools needed to prevent the misfortunes we see in the news.”

Internet safety is a shared responsibility between the public, corporate America and government. Parents cannot do the job of corporate America and law enforcement. This is why EIE continues to press forward with its current National Porn Free WiFi Campaign urging American companies offering free public WiFi to their patrons to voluntarily filter child porn and pornography.  In response, McDonald’s is now filtering their in store WiFi in nearly all of their 14,000 stores and Starbucks has issued a policy to do the same. EIE launched The Children’s Internet Safety Presidential Pledge asking the Presidential Nominees to uphold the rule of law by aggressively enforce existing federal laws to prevent the sexual exploitation of children online, including the obscenity, child pornography, sexual predation & sex trafficking laws. Donald Trump signed the Pledge and Hillary Clinton sent a letter of support for the Pledge’s goals.

Studies have shown:

  • Internet safety is the 4th top ranked issue on the list of health concerns for U.S. children and sexting is ranked 6th. C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital (2015)
  • 83% of b15oys and 57% of girls have seen group sex online; 32% of boys and 18% of girls have viewed bestiality online.
  • In a random sample study over 14% admitted to cyberbullying another person, with spreading rumors online, via text, or email being the most common form of bullying. (Cyberbullying Research Center, 2015).
  • 60% of teens who admit to being bullied online have told an adult (compared to 40% last year). Cox. (2014) "Cox 2014 Internet Safety Survey." The Futures Company.
  • One in two parents do not use any blocking or filtering software on their children's Internet enabled devices.(FamilyPC Survey, August, 2001)
  • 1 in 5 teens have used a private browsing feature so their parents can't see the sites they've visited. Cox. (2014) "Cox 2014 Internet Safety Survey." The Futures Company.

Enough Is Enough® is a national bi-partisan non-profit organization who has led the fight to make the Internet safer for children and families since 1994. EIE's efforts are focused on combating Internet p*rnography, child p*rnography, sexual predation, and cyberbullying by incorporating a three-pronged prevention strategy with shared responsibilities between the public, Corporate America, and the legal community.  www.enough.org. www.internetsafety101.org

National Cybersecurity Alliance builds strong public/private partnerships to create and implement broad-reaching education and awareness efforts to empower users at home, work and school with the information they need to keep themselves, their organizations, their systems and their sensitive information safe and secure online and encourage a culture of cybersecurity.

For more information or to arrange an interview with Donna Rice Hughes, please contact Cassandre Durocher with Shirley & Banister Public Affairs at 703-739-5920 or cdurocher@sbpublicaffairs.com.