You’d think a large toy company like Hasbro would have kids’ safety in mind, but one of their online interactive games is the kind of thing that makes parents cringe with its sheer foolishness.

Hasbro’s GI Joe – The Grip game allows kids to choose various items for a big GI Joe hand to squash. While most of the things being squished are funny and harmless, one of the choices is a light bulb. It’s not a cartoon hand that’s doing this either – it’s a video of a bare hand crushing these items. Among the other things are glass jars and full coffee cups.

Their response to this when I emailed them was a bland pre-canned reply saying how important children’s safety is, but several months later, GI Joe is still encouraging kids to crush lightbulbs with their bare hands.

It’s too bad there isn’t an option for parents to get GI Joe to reach out and give the approvers of this game a good head squeeze…

When you think about all the pointless info on Facebook or time-wasting Tweets like “I’m standing in line for a coffee” it’s easy to agree. However, every once in a while social media sites provide a service that is so immeasurably valuable that they put the formal processes and tools to shame.

Here’s an example of a recent story about a missing girl. She didn’t fit the formal profile for triggering an Amber Alert so the family fell back on their informal online networking contacts.

Read more: Social Networking Aids Family of Missing Child

Cybertip.ca also provides the public with information, referrals and other resources to help Canadians keep their children safe while on the Internet.

It’s been a couple of years in the making, but Microsoft’s CET (Child Exploitation Tracking System) has helped the Toronto Police Service’s Sex Crimes Unit track down and charge a man previously arrested on child-pornography charges with sexually assaulting a 4-year-old-girl, taking pornographic pictures of her and distributing them.

I never thought I’d say this, but "Good job, Microsoft!"

Blogs have exploded in popularity and in quantity, viruses and security patches have been released at a frenzied pace, and more and more people are getting connected via the web.

Spam has increased (in case you hadn’t noticed), but there’s something else that’s increased that most people probably aren’t as aware about — “kiddie porn”.

According to InformationWeek, “The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s CyberTipline logged a 39% increase in reports of possession, creation, or distribution of child pornography in 2004, the seventh consecutive year child-pornography incidents have trended upward since the federally funded group set up its 24-hour hot line in 1998.”

That’s not just annoying, folks. That’s downright terrifying.

This means that more and more kids are becoming victims of child pornography — whether it’s through exposure to images or through being forced to pose or participate in creating those images.

Not scary enough? Then consider this — the increase in child porn means the odds of YOUR child becoming a victim are increasing.

As annoying as spammers, hackers, social engineers and pop-up advertising may be, it’s easy to disassociate yourself from these things; it’s easy to argue that they’re not physically hurting anyone.

Kiddie porn does hurt, though, and there’s no arguing otherwise. The sphere of hurt goes beyond the obvious — that of the children and their families. It takes its toll on those who fight to protect the children, too.

A recent article — “The Pain Behind the Pictures” — by Parry Aftab, opens our eyes to the brutal reality of this issue.

It’s becoming more and more critical that parents and teachers educate their children and their families about online safety.

“Ignorance is bliss” only goes so far, and when it involves children, our ignorance could become our own child’s death sentence…