'Beakman's World' Star Shows Kids How to Surf Safely at Boston's Computer Museum
The Learning Company Sponsors Interactive Back-to-School Event as Part of National Campaign
BOSTON, Sept. 8 /PRNewswire/ -- Boston's high-tech computer museum, America's leading educational software maker and the zany star of the award- winning ''Beakman's World'' television series, team up in mid-September to kick- off a nationwide campaign, America Links Up, designed to help kids surf the Net safely and still have fun.
The event on September 14, sponsored by The Learning Company, Inc. and The Computer Museum, is the first in a series of national events to be held at libraries, schools, community centers and churches across the country throughout the fall. A national Town Hall Meeting on Internet safety, that includes the participation of Secretary of Education Richard Riley, will be held in Washington D.C. the day after the Boston event. ''This grass roots event (by The Learning Company) will surely encourage others to join in building awareness about Internet safety for our children,'' says Secretary Riley.
''We're thrilled to have someone as engagingly nutty as Paul Zaloom teaching our kids about using computers and the Internet, the greatest educational resources since the invention of the book,'' says Kevin O'Leary, President, The Learning Company. ''We hope other kids across the country have the same opportunity to learn Internet safety as Boston kids will have during this event.''
The Boston interactive teach-in marks the start of National Kids Online Week. About 150 children from three Boston-area schools -- the Dever and Holmes Elementary Schools and McCormack Middle School -- will spend an afternoon exploring the Internet on the museum's computers, being the first to experience the America Links Up Internet safety curriculum and frolicking through a performance by Zaloom. They'll visit with Superintendent of Boston Public Schools, Dr. Thomas Payzant, Ed.D, and send an e-mail to Vice President Al Gore telling him what they like best about the Net and their pledge to being safe online.
Kids will learn how to protect their family's privacy on-line, how to find great web sites created especially for children and how to meet other kids around the world. They will also learn rules for participating in chat rooms, ways of using both software and the Net in harmony for educational fun and how to avoid inappropriate content online.
The number of children going online will grow to 20.9 million in 2002, according to statistics compiled by Jupiter Communications. ''As children are increasingly using new technologies like the Internet in school, the library, their home and in after school activities, it's important to teach them how to use this vast and wonderful resource safely,'' says Ellen Spear, acting Executive Director of The Computer Museum. ''We hope what the kids learn at the museum will be shared with their friends and families.''
Paul Zaloom, a performance artist and educator, who plays the wacky Beakman in his own hit TV series, is dedicated to making quality education accessible and fun. His show has enlightened both teachers and kids about science and math in some weird and wonderful ways.
The Learning Company, Inc. (NYSE: TLC - news) is one of the country's leading developers of consumer software for the entire family. The company publishes some of the best-known education, reference, personal productivity and family entertainment brands in the U.S., including Reader Rabbit, The Oregon Trail, Sesame Street, Mavis Beacon, Princeton Review, National Geographic, Compton's, PrintMaster and Chessmaster. The company's products are sold in more than 23,000 retail stores in North America and through multiple distribution channels including school sales, online, direct marketing and OEM.
''Paul Zaloom, The Computer Museum and The Learning Company all agree that learning can be fun and that technology can be a terrific tool for opening the world to young children,'' says Susan Getgood, The Learning Company's Director of Corporate Communications. ''We're delighted to be able to bring this America Links Up event to Boston.'' For more information on The Learning Company and America Links Up, visit our website at www.learningco.com/vip/alu.
The only museum of its kind in the world, The Computer Museum educates and inspires people of all ages and backgrounds about computers via its programs and 170 interactive exhibits, including The Virtual Fish Tank(TM), and Walk- Through Computer(TM) 2000. For more information, call 617-426-2800 or visit www.tcm.org.
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SOURCE: The Learning Company, Inc.
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