And in the Internet safety world, products are appearing to keep kids safe, in a dialog with their parents, and still let them enjoy the benefits of social networking.

A couple of new products make it easier than ever to encourage this sort of behavior. Some are more traditional than others, but each deals with online reputation management. SafetyWeb could just be considered a new monitoring product. It’s a service that lets you enter your child’s email and then does a search for them on the major social networks and photosharing sites. You’ll be able to see their public comments on Facebook, MySpace, Photobucket, and more. A quick search found my son on five networks, but missed his Facebook profile. The service costs $10 a month.

Similarly, a service called ReputationDefender will, for $14.95 a month, produce a report of your kid’s activities, including everything from photos they post to chats they have. ReputationDefender also works for business people and adults who want the less desirable things in their online history to show up at the bottom, rather than the top, of a Google search.

Webroot.com created a summer list to help parents in need of laying down the law on rules and best practices. Included are the basics like urging parents to become web savvy and know what’s on the web. Sounds like common sense, but it’s nice to see web software companies take action beside their core competency of blocking and filtering.

TrendMicro figured that, if kids were going to be a bit frightened about the consequences of inappropriate Internet behavior, then they might as well have their tutelage come from other kids. A contest where kids produced their own PSAs resulted in “Overexposed,” produced by Nicholas Chen and Edan Freiberger, which gets its slightly funny, slightly scary message across in under two minutes (watch it here). Contestants submitted 120 videos over six weeks; 40% of them were under age 18.

One of my favorite new approaches is not Internet safety at all; it’s an online community that’s been likened to Facebook on training wheels. Togetherville allows parents with Facebook accounts to create a kids’ safe area where they can stay in touch with family and friends that parents approve. Messages are confined to those you can select from a pick list. There are art games, photosharing, and mom and dad help pick your friends.

As tools get better, as education continues to be a focus, and as kids witness their own peers falling prey to Internet shenanigans, you can bet we’ll see more and more new answers emerging.

For LeapFrog, the answer is the newly announced $69 Leapster Explorer. For the price, the features are awesome. It has a nice color screen (3.2 inches and 320×320 pixels – which makes it a bit grainer than the iPhone, but a big improvement for LeapFrog) and 512MB of memory. It runs Flash (take that, iPad), will do 3D, and play video. A webcam attachment, due out later this fall, will cost $25. Both games and LeapFrog applets that are similar to apps on the iPhone will be available (in a proprietary format). The device is aimed squarely at 4-9 year-olds.

Underneath the device lies a decision point in parenting philosophy. The Leapster Explorer has a vast network of educational apps that reside on LeapWorld. LeapWorld allows for avatars and personal customization – though no social networking. There’s a Learning Path online component that lets parents monitor activities, get suggestions for additional activities, and quickly find products that address a particular skill.

Unlike earlier versions of LeapFrog apps, their new games and apps are much more fun, exploratory, and open-ended. Gone are the right vs. wrong answers and the whiny voices telling you “Good move” or “Try again.” The music is hipper and there’s a bit of a new edge. The underpinnings of what we used to call “drill and kill software” are eroding.

LeapFrog’s apps are proprietary in format. There are both games - similar to Nintendo’s DS - and learning activities – more like the Apple Apps store. Launch titles include kid faves like Toy Story 3, Disney Fairies, The Penguins of Madagascar, X-Men, Disney Princesses, and Dora the Explorer. Pop culture at its best.

While the $69 hardware is attractive, apps are actually more expensive than on the iPhone. While the Apple Store has no shortage of handsome 99-cent apps, the Leapster Explorer apps will be priced at $15 for two learning apps and for $25 a game. On the other hand, there’s a lot going on beneath the hood, tracking kids’ progress, and unveiling new games that make the additional price reasonable.

Can LeapFrog’s earnest and right-priced approach to reaching kids from 4-9 work in a world where parents are handing over $500 iPads, iPhone Touches, and DS machines to four year olds? The alternative devices are much more facile and able to satisfy the whole family at once. LeapFrog’s Explorer is a platform built explicitly for young kids.

At the moment, unfortunately, there’s no room for crossover. You can’t play LeapFrog games on an i-machine and you can’t play iPhone apps on your LeapFrog device. Sad.

My bottom line? More price-sensitive, more traditional parents and those who believe that kids belong in a finite kids’ educational world will flock to LeapFrog. It’s also a fabulous solution for the less affluent who want a sustainable system through the primary school years. Parents who are less hierarchical and believe in a cross-generational approach will choose the iPad.

Which are you? Think of it this way: When my kids were little, they had a toy vacuum. Playing with the real thing was not an option. The Leapster Explorer is an educational toy, albeit a powerful one. The i-machines are tools for grownups, with occasional kid uses. The Nintendo DS will always fare better at games than learning.

There are many new solutions that provide younger folks with a proving ground for experiencing the Internet and social networking. One of the newest is FaceChipz. FaceChipz is interesting for two reasons. First, it has a physical component. You buy a pack of five FaceChipz at retail. Second, you are limited to having a one-to-one relationship with your FaceChipz friends. Think of it as a sort of permanent BFF relationship. FaceChipz is about you and your friend (not plural) having an online relationship.

Here’s how it works. You purchase a five-pack of FaceChipz at places like Toys”R”Us. A chip looks very much like a colorful poker chip. Each chip has a unique ID number on it. You enter the website using the unique ID found on the chip.

Here comes the unique part. Once you’ve registered your chip you can hand it over  to your BF (Best Friend). They enter the same code from the chip into their PC.  When they do you and your friend are connected on the FaceChipz site. If you don’t  physically exchanged chipz your profile remains hidden. In addition, parents need to sign up their children to be a part of the site, which increases the safety aspect.

Once you’re signed up and have a friend, you can use FaceChipz similarly to how you use Facebook. You create a profile,  post pictures, and share electronic trinkets with friends. The FaceChipz sell in packs of five for $5 and there’s a one-time $1 fee for processing the parent’s application.

Parents are enamored of this newcomer because it provides a low risk, controlled taste of social networking. I was a bit put off by the fact that  creating a group of  friends requires a convulted sharing of chips. If I invite you and you invite a friend, I need to get a chip from the new friend in order to become a group.  I tested it with some 10-year-old kids  (as well as some adults) and they had a similar reaction.  They’d prefer a site where they could have multiple friends  created  with less work.  Still, if you’re looking for a training wheels approach to internet safety consider Facechipz.

The Nick Edition follows on the heels of a Disney announcement for a pink or blue encased ASUS netbook that it calls the NetPals Netbook. Both machines are honest-to-goodness entry-level netbooks, ones that any adult on a budget would be happy to own. What makes them kid-friendly are decoration, software, a custom UI, and lots of parental control software

Beneath the green and white Viacom slime on the cover of the PC lurks a Dell Inspiron Mini. A Nick widget (which wasn’t quite ready to be demonstrated) will take junior right to Nickland. There they’ll find feature games of the week, first-run Nick shows, an MP3 and more. WhyVille, a highly respected social networking site that caters to a “thinking” kid, is also featured prominently.

When it comes to speeds and feeds, both Disney/ASUS and Nick/Dell machines have similar specifications: Atom processors, 1GB RAM, 160GB hard drive, and a built-in webcam. Both run XP. Both weigh under 3 lbs. Dell adds a Lo-Jack–a sensible addition for parents sending kids into a world where they’d forget their pants if they weren’t wearing them. Dell did not announce pricing, but expect it to be competitive with the Disney NetPal.

According to Dell, Maria Bailey, CEO of BSM Media, helped set the mission. Moms and dads are looking for brands they can trust, access to entertainment and education, and a protected environment.

Dell is going to miss the back to school buying spree, but when it does become available in October you’ll find the Nick Edition at Wal-Mart or on Dell.com.

Undecided whether to be in the SpongeBob/iCarly or Little Mermaid/Hannah Montana camp? Don’t worry–I’m sure it’s a matter of moments before you’ll be able to add a few other kid-themed netbooks to the menu. The injustice of it all may be that your kid gets a netbook before you do.

iFart: There seems to be a fart virus in the mobile applications stores. iFart, the daddy of these apps, was grossing $10,000 a day and it’s only a 99 cent purchase. (You do the math.) Since iFart’s introduction, Apple approved at least 14 more fart apps for distribution through the store. If you hear the sound of gas passing from your kid’s iPhone you’ll be one up.

Moonwalker: This is the Michael Jackson version, not the Apollo version. In 1990, SEGA released Moonwalker, an arcade video game starring Michael Jackson. Michael maneuvers through a pool hall, a dark alley, and a graveyard, fighting thugs, robots, and zombies on a quest is to save children. The game even includes Bubbles the chimp. Michael prances and shows his moves as “Bad,” “Smooth Criminal,” and “Beat It” create the soundtrack. If he gets too many hits he falls and cries “help me,” begging for another quarter. There were a number of home versions as well and the Michael Jackson games are popping for sale as collector’s items.

Virtual Jihad: There have been a number of these games and variations since 2003. The early ones depicted Americans searching and shooting in the hopes of finding Saddam Hussein. The newer variants have Al-Qaeda hunting down George Bush.  Some are variants of the BattleZone game. Maybe we should let these guys play the game instead of the real war, but there’s something offensive about watching kids play a game that so imitates the realities of war.

Others to steer clear of: Blades—a violent game with a sexpot heroine. Manhunt 2 for its extreme violence. When in doubt about a game’s appropriateness for kids, the best choice is to go to a site like the ESRB or Common Sense Media and check out the ratings.

Just in time for Father’s Day, Salon pays homage to the Y-chromosome in the equation. Nancy Gibbs in this week’s Time Magazine urges moms to take note. Dads are laid back and less caught up in the politics of mommyhood.

Happy Father’s Day to moms everywhere.

It’s a jungle out there.  If you’re looking to help them practice  reading, math, critical thinking, color matching  … whatever, there are hundreds to choose from ranging from the mundane to the sublime. And no way to know for sure much about what’s inside the box.

Leapfrog, known for mostly top-notch products for kids just made it much easier to buy the right product and better still, to watch how your child is interacting with the toy.

The company’s new website Learning Path offers parents a portal into their child’s learning.  Learning Path charts a course for parents to make good product choices by grouping choice by age and skills. Parents receive tips and ideas from educators. But most important the child’s product can be linked to the website and parents get feedback about how the child interacts with the product. 

Here’s a quick look at some of the types of things you can expect to see in the new line:

EARLIEST LEARNERS

Focus is on products like Fridge Phonics and Pre School Medley. (Still, not quite sure I love the sound of little kids recorded voices singing and saying words without much difference between singing and saying,  but the Leapfrog folks assure me that the kids prefer it.

With slightly more coordination kids are ready for products like Zippity. Zippity is sort of a colorful cross between Dance Dance Revolution and  Nintendo Wii  but made for a three to five year old who play games where their using their bodies to interact with the device, without needed the dexterity to succeed with a full blown Wii.

SCOUT AND FRIENDS

Scout, a cuddly plush dog becomes the mascot to preschoolers with a collection of products that look just like mom and dad’s high tech stuff. There’s a PDA that teaches words and letters and has some fun built in emails and calendar functinos that revolve around Scout’s life.  A Scribble and Write is like a high tech version of the tracing books we used to use to learn to write our letters.  Trace the letters by following the screen’s LED dots.

TAG READING FOR JUNIORS

One of the newest products is the Tag Reader Junior  ($35 when it’s released later this year).  TagReading Kit  is a pen shaped device that can interact with books to read, teach words and more ($50).  Once you have the pen you keep replenishing your library of Tag books at about $14 each.  Tag Jr. is a stubbier, snowman-like stamperr instead of a pen.  As it touches the book, a sturdy cardboard affair, it also responds. 

Things I like:

The books and materials were high quality, compelling stories.  Many Tag books are liscened from companies like Disney and Scholastic so the child is engaged in the literature.

The tag pens bring a fun element to reading books, but it’s a book you’re reading, not a game screen.

The parents web site and the kids’ website are basically two views of the same content.  Parents can see where there kids like to play (learning words? shapes? math? and kids can get more content and games from the web.

After years of mostly quality one off toys, the Leapfrog strategy took a giant leap forward.

There’s something really creepy about paying your kids to learn…or is there?

The New York Times recently ran an interesting piece on whether or not kids learn better when they’re given material incentives. Historically, educators have frowned on rewards. They want very much to believe that education, the pursuit of knowledge, is reward enough.

The concept of education as its own reward is starting to feel a bit dated in a world where everything is measured on the immediate return on investment. In an era when life is about accumulating stuff–coupons, trinkets, friends, and more–for many kids, it’s starting to look as if rewards for learning might do the trick. As parents, we give our kids everything from allowance money to toys/games/clothing as a way to reward their good behaviors. The hope is that these extrinsic rewards will become intrinsic as the kids grow older. Purists argue that kids are born explorers and their love of exploration translates to the love of learning, but let’s face it: Multiplication tables and fractions are not exploratory territory. They require route memorization tasks and most kids find this sort of learning far less compelling than just about anything else they could be doing.

As I ponder, I’m at a conference called DEMO 09 that showcases new products and start ups in the technology space. I just watched an exciting demo of a SmartyCard, an online learning world for kids ages 7-12 where they get rewards for learning. The creators of the system aren’t being subversive, either. The company’s slogan is YOU LEARN, YOU EARN.

The content is mostly in the form of online quizzes with colorful graphics, simulations, and videos included. The content is grade-specific and compartmentalizes skills according to activities like “space” or “America” rather than the old “reading/math/science” classification.

As the child plays they earn points. The rewards are all virtual and they’re precisely the type of reward every 7-12 old covets: Club Penguin membership, iTunes music, WebKinz stuff, and more.

I’m loving the idea of virtual rewards for many reasons. First, kids learn to purchase their own virtual stuff–their currency is learning. Second, a virtual reward lets them personalize how they decide to spend. This makes them better consumers of all media. Finally, learning basic facts has never been scintillating stuff . Do you remember playing eraser tag in your classroom or any one of a number of other games to make memorization a bit more memorable? SmartyCards does the same thing, as did so much of what we’ve despairingly called edutainment.

I’m not advocating a Skinnerian education where material goods become the reason for learning. But kids’ work is schoolwork, and their job is to do it well. Everyone expects compensation for a job well done and that means both the knowledge that they’ve done good work and a little salary, too.

You go, SmartyCard. You learn. You earn.

The first generation of Internet safety products to help parents protect their kids from the dangers of cyberspace were all about saying “no.” This next generation is all about negotiation and conversation. And that’s a good thing, since what most kids need is education about the Internet and not a lockdown.

Today, Symantec launched Norton Online Family, a web-based service to help families facilitate the conversation that parents and kids should be having about the Internet. The site encourages kids to stay in touch and earn their parents’ trust by showing them that they can ask for permission and that they’re willing to live openly, not secretively, on the web.

So, for example, with Norton Online Family a parent can choose to be notified each time their child wants to add a new friend to their IM list. A parent can choose to monitor the child’s web usage, set time limits, or be notified when their child wants to visit a blocked site. Because of the built-in communications and alerts, this new generation of software promotes a discussion rather than a parental dictatorship.

Other Internet safety companies are also revising their approaches to reflect a more discursive approach to protecting kids on the Internet. We’ll be seeing more and more products that aim to protect through conversation and dialog rather than putting up blockades on the Internet.

Full disclosure: I serve on a Board of Advisors that was assembled to test the beta design of the product and offer feedback to Symantec.