• Chat rooms register more than 200,000 new members daily, and more than 60 million have registered to date, and a quarter of those users are teens.

• Many users misrepresent their ages on these sites.

• Many sites do not monitor or regulate the age parameters required to register.

• Some sites have been associated with murders in Baltimore and New Jersey, and with child molestation cases in Texas, Connecticut, Hawaii and Califorina.

Assemblyman McDonough is sponsoring the following legislation:

A.1708 - Creates the crime of attempting to lure or entice a minor, which would protect children from Internet predators who try to meet them in person.

A.6100 - Creates the Internet Protection Act to safeguard underage viewers from distributors of explicit material and increase the punishments for criminals who use the Internet to contact minors.

Internet Safety Tips:

• Keep computers in a family room so responsible adults can monitor Internet use and online discussions.

• Be alert if children receive gifts or letters in the mail or unusual phone calls.

• Keep kids out of chat rooms or monitor their chats.

• See what Web sites children create online. Review the information and photographs that are sent and received.

• Take occasional peeks at the computer screen while children are online.

• Review computer files. If confused by computer operations, ask a friend, relative or co-worker to help.

• Let children know not to give out personal information such as phone numbers or addresses over the Internet or via e-mail.

• Explain to children that people may not be who they claim to be and that some adults pretend to be kids as a pretense to meet them outside the home.

• Encourage children to discuss their favorite Web sites and talk about what happens on the Internet, including people they meet.