PITTSBURGH -- How much does you and your child know about cyber safety?

Feature: Are Your Teens Safe?

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, 89 percent of children are using the Internet for social networking, but less than 34 percent of their parents are aware of this activity.

And Pittsburgh television station WPXI reported that a survey by Carnegie Mellon University found 97 percent of the Allegheny County residents wanted to know more about cyber safety and wanted simpler tools to monitor their children's online activities.

Because of information like that, CMU developed an online game to teach young kids how to play it safe online.

The game is called Carnegie Cadets.

Dena Haritos Tsamitis, director of CMU's Information Networking Institute, said, "They learn about the benefits of cyberspace but also learn about what risks are associated with being online."

Cmdr. Omni is the head of the virtual Carnegie Cyber Academy. She warns children, "You could get into serious trouble in real life if you share personal information online."

Unfortunately, one Pittsburgh teen found that out the hard way.

In 2002, 13-year-old Alicia Kozakiewicz was abducted by a man she'd met online. The FBI found her tied up but alive in the man's Virginia home three days later.

Game developers said they hope this game will prevent other children from becoming Internet victims.

Students at Hyde Elementary School are testing the new game. Their input will help game designers fine tune the final product.

The fifth-graders testing the game are having fun and learning.

A student named Ryan said, "It’s fun and it teaches you a lot of stuff."

Daniel, another fifth-grader, said, "We're learning about what e-mails to not open."

And a student named Trevor said, "It can teach you not to click on pop-ups and things."

Haritos Tsamitis said, "The children enter a world which is cyberspace and take on a role of being a cyber cadet or Carnegie Cadet, and their mission is to secure cyberspace."

Each cadet is assigned an empty dorm room when they start the game. They earn points every time they master an Internet security skill. Then they can use those points to furnish their dorm room.

The academy has a virtual store. The kids can buy virtual beds, lights, even wallpaper to decorate their rooms.

The students we talked to especially like this aspect of the game, although one thing the students have suggested to the game makers is to be able to buy bunk beds.

The game is targeted at fourth-, fifth- and sixth-graders.

Steve Polumbo, a computer teacher at Hyde Elementary, said the students enjoy the game and really don't know how much learning is going on.

"It's just like teaching a kid not to grab something hot on the stove. You do it before it happens to give them that precaution so that they don't get themselves in a jam," he said.

The game will be in thousands of school nationwide sometime this spring, WPXI reported.