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Posted: 1:59 PM- Students at 75 Utah public schools will be playing video games to learn a thing or two about their own safety.

Web Wise Kids, a new pilot program sponsored by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) will train teachers and hand out Internet safety computer games to Jordan, Granite, Murray, Salt Lake and Alpine school districts.

"The problem we have is that kids and parents think 'What's the harm. It's just chatting,'" Attorney General Mark Shurtleff said. "We have to really wake people up that there are dangers and risks involved."

Shurtleff said Utah leads the nation in arrests of Internet predators and child pornographers. So while the law enforcement is efficient, he said the goal is to stop it all together by educating people on how to be safe online.

ESA sponsored the $75,000 pilot.

The games are targeted for junior and senior high schools. They include interactive simulations based on real criminal cases that students help solve.

Sally Jefferson, senior director of state government affairs for ESA, said it made sense to launch the program in Utah, being that it has more computers in households per capita than any where else in the country.

"Utah is a real leader as a result of all the efforts the attorney general, the speaker and Senate president have done to promote youth internet safety," she said.

ESA represent publishers of video and computer games and has worked with Web Wise Kids for the past six years.

The games are expected to reach between 300,000 to 400,000 in the state. Esther Cookson, with Web Wise Kids, said middle- and high school-age students are targeted the represent the group most needing the education.

Web Wise Kids, is a nonprofit group based out of California that creates and develops Internet safety education for students.

"The goal is to help kids realize what can happen to them online and just to empower them to make smart choices," Cookson. "It's (the video games) hands on and minds on. It really engages them."

Web Wise Kids staff will train school personnel, who would in turn train others at each site. Training will start within the next month.

Granite School District Superintendent Stephen Ronnenkamp said the districts appreciated the support from all those involved. He said as educators there has been a concern with the exploitation of youth facilitated through the Internet.