Boys & Girls Clubs of America, Sprint Continue to Keep Youth Safe Online

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Feb 21, 2012, 01:14 ET

Sprint strengthens 2012 commitment with $409,772 to Boys & Girls Clubs

ATLANTA, Feb. 21, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Young people grow up hearing all kinds of safety warnings like "Look both ways before crossing the street," or "Don't talk to strangers." But traditional safety tips are changing as today's youth spend more time navigating an expansive online world. Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) and Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced a strengthening of their work to educate young people and the adults who care for them about Internet and media safety.

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BGCA and Sprint enter into their third year of working together with a $409,772 commitment aimed to highlight important online safety practices to nearly 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs across the country. BGCA and Sprint will provide tools and resources to educate Club youth, parents and staff throughout the year with strong support around June's Internet Safety Month.

This year's funding will provide Clubs with a comprehensive media-safety strategy through the utilization of the NetSmartz and NSTeens programs, developed by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, along with resources that include media-safety discussion cards, social-networking and mobile-phone usage guidelines, and resources for Clubs to host their own Internet Safety days. Additionally, Clubs will be provided with teen-friendly video packages and media-safety articles, polls and contests for their members.

"Understanding media safety issues and knowing how to be safer online is critical for Club youth and parents," said Judith J. Pickens, senior vice president for BGCA's Program & Youth Development Services. "With Sprint's ongoing support, Boys & Girls Clubs of America will continue to find creative ways to educate our young people on how to safely navigate the online world and be proactive with protective issues surrounding online safety."

The goal is not only to educate, but allow for interactive engagement among youth. Creative avenues to communicate critical information are provided, such as the recent "Caption This!" contest, which was hosted on myclubmylife.com, BGCA's website for teens.

The contest provided five sample posters representing critical media-safety topics: cyberbullying, password protection and online information sharing, sexting, Web chat safety, and mobile-phone recycling. Participants were challenged to produce an original slogan for one of the posters, and the winning slogans will be used in an educational poster series to promote the importance of media safety to some four million youth served by Boys & Girls Clubs.

"Sprint is pleased to continue its work with Boys & Girls Clubs of America," said Ralph Reid, vice president of Corporate Responsibility for Sprint. "With so many young people accessing the Internet, it's critical that they have ready access to information on how to stay safer; BGCA has been invaluable in seeing that this content gets into Clubs across the country."

For more information on BGCA's relationship with Sprint, visit http://bgca.org/meetourpartners/Pages/Sprint.aspx. To learn about Sprint's 4NetSafety program which opens the lines of communications about Internet and media safety between young people and adults, visit www.sprint.com/4netsafety.

About Boys & Girls Clubs of America
For more than 100 years, Boys & Girls Clubs of America (GreatFutures.org) has enabled young people most in need to achieve great futures as productive, caring, responsible citizens. Today, nearly 4,000 Boys & Girls Clubs serve some 4 million children and teens through Club membership and community outreach. Clubs are located in cities, towns, public housing and on Native American lands throughout the country, and serve military families in BGCA-affiliated Youth Centers on U.S. military installations worldwide. Clubs provide a safe place, caring adult mentors, fun and friendship, and high-impact youth development programs on a daily basis during critical non-school hours. Priority programs emphasize academic success, good character and citizenship, and healthy lifestyles. In a Harris Survey of alumni, 57 percent said the Club saved their lives. National headquarters are located in Atlanta. Learn more at bgca.org/facebook and bgca.org/twitter.

About Sprint Nextel
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel served more than 55 million customers at the end of 2011 and is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including the first wireless 4G service from a national carrier in the United States; offering industry-leading mobile data services, leading prepaid brands including Virgin Mobile USA, Boost Mobile, and Assurance Wireless; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. Newsweek ranked Sprint No. 3 in its 2011 Green Rankings, listing it as one of the nation's greenest companies, the highest of any telecommunications company. You can learn more and visit Sprint at www.sprint.com or www.facebook.com/sprint and www.twitter.com/sprint.

SOURCE Boys & Girls Clubs of America