Ted Belej

HOUGHTON - Parents have a best friend in Ted Belej, although they may not know it.

'Basically, I try to scare the hell out of parents,' Belej said unapologetically.

As systems administrator for the Houghton-Portage Township School District, Belej has seen first-hand how computers aid students and school personnel in their work.But as with any technology, there's a flip side.

'Most kids have some kind of profile out there and there's way too much information in those profiles,' Belej said.Programs such as MSN messenger and Yahoo are very popular with kids, who don't understand what they're filling out, he said.

'If you've got a kid who is a Yahoo member, you can do a search for all the members who live in Houghton, giving total strangers complete access to where you live,' he said.In addition, many profile systems have the ability to attach photographs, which are also easily accessible.

'There are some very inappropriate pictures out there,' Belej warned.
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Houghton-Portage Township Schools systems administrator Ted Belej investigates an Internet safety Web site in the school library Friday.Belej is hosting a workshop Aug. 4 to instruct parents on the dangers of Internet predators.