Parents educated about cyber stalkers

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Keeping kids safe online can be tough in the era of MySpace, Facebook and instant messenger, but knowing where your child is online could save their life.

When parents learn it can take just 20 minutes for online predators to find a child's name, address and phone number on the internet, they're shocked.

"When you see the figures in front of you, it's kind of alarming," Parent Shannon Zamarron said.

Zamarron is a stepmother of three, and her oldest child, an 8-year-old girl, is already internet savvy.

"Every chance she gets tries to get on the computer, tries to get on websites," Zamarron said.

About 150 people crowded the Don Newton Taylor Ranch Community Center Saturday to learn from police about the dangers of the internet.

"The minute that child is on the internet, the minute the child is on the computer, it's as though you put him out in the middle of the busiest city you can imagine and letting them walk around alone," Albuquerque Police Department Sgt. Paul Garcia said.

Police said websites like MySpace and Facebook are perfect fodder for predators.

"All those people who we warned them about on the streets, they're out there on the internet as well," Garcia said.

To help combat this scary situation, the city of Albuquerque is partnering up with Sandia National Laboratories.

Sandia scientists are adapting software that guards national secrets, to create a program to protect kids and educate parents about online predators.

"Our kids know the technology, mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, don't know the technology and it's our responsibility as adults to learn it so we can protect our kids," Albuquerque Mayor Martin Chavez said.

Chavez wants to distribute it to every household in the city, for free.

"I don't ever want a child to be exposed because mom and dad can't afford $10," Chavez said.

The software is still being developed, and the Mayor hopes to have it completed in the next year.