Platform Statement

Internet Safety - Protecting Kids Online
Personal Platform Statement of Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson

One of my goals, as Miss America 2007, is to heighten the awareness for protecting our children on the Internet. It is critical for parents to police with their children's keyboards because one out of seven children have been approached by an online predator. Unless parents monitor what sites their children are visiting and use available software, their child could be at risk.

The topic of Internet Safety became important to me when at age 13, some friends and I were approached in an Internet chat room by someone who we later discovered was an online predator. We made the mistake of giving out our personal information, including names, location and ages. A week later we received inappropriate photographs in the mail. We immediately told our parents and were lucky that the situation was defused without incident. We learned a valuable lesson about how to protect ourselves online. It is my hope that children will learn these lessons before they find themselves in a dangerous situation, like my friends and I did.

The Internet is a great tool for getting news, conducting research and communicating with others, but it is also a haven for online predators. By teaching kids early and often what the dangers of the Internet are and how to avoid them, and working with government officials to pass legislation that is tough on online predators we can help make the Internet a safe, kid-friendly place for our children.

As a spokesperson for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and Cox Communications, I hope to use my voice to help these organizations educate and raise awareness about Internet Safety for Children and help pass much needed legislation so that all children will be safe on-line. I am helping to support NCMEC's mission of preventing child abduction and sexual exploitation; helping find missing children; and assisting victims of child abduction and sexual exploitation, their families, and the professionals who serve them. In 1998, NCMEC launched the CyberTipline whose goal is to empower the public to take immediate and direct action to enforce a zero tolerance policy regarding child sexual exploitation. Since 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more than 125,200 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 107,600 children. I have also teamed with Cox Communications to film Public Service Announcements (PSAs) that are targeted towards parents to help safeguard our nation's children. I look forward to using my year of service to bring new light to the important and timely issue of Internet Safety.

A Crowning Moment For Childrens Miracle Network & The Miss America Organization

For the past 18 years, Children's Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization have enjoyed an incredible partnership. To build on this legacy, Children's Miracle Network has been selected as the official national platform for the Miss America Scholarship Program. This partnership represents the first time in the 86-year history of the Miss America Organization that they have adopted a national platform.

Children's Miracle Network is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving and improving the lives of children by raising funds for children's hospitals across North America. Each year the 170 Children's Miracle Network hospitals provide the finest medical care, life-saving research and preventative education to help millions of kids overcome diseases and injuries of every kind.

Each year the new Miss America, in addition to bringing awareness to her personal platform, will be an official goodwill ambassador for Children's Miracle Network as she raises funds and awareness for both Children's Miracle Network and the Miss America Organization. This partnership also extends to the women competing at the local, state and national levels of the pageant, asking each contestant who participates to raise funds on behalf of Children's Miracle Network and the Miss America Scholarship Program. Funds will benefit Children's Miracle Network hospitals across the nation and Miss America Scholarship Programs at the local, state and national level.

"We are honored to be selected as the official national platform of the Miss America Organization," said Jim Hall, president and CEO of Children's Miracle Network. "The Miss America Organization and Children's Miracle Network have had an amazing 18-year history and we're looking forward to building on that legacy."

The new partnership was announced during the 2007 Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas, NV, which was televised on CMT to an estimated 7.2 million viewers. On February 5, Nelson kicked off her year as the National Goodwill Ambassador for Children's Miracle Network by touring The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. After a tour, Nelson visited with many of the children at the hospital.

"I knew I would be the new National Goodwill Ambassador for Children's Miracle Network when I was crowned, but I had no idea what an impact it would have on me," Nelson said after touring Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. "These kids are amazing. I am proud to be a part of the Children's Miracle Network family. I would encourage girls competing at all levels to get involved with this great organization because together we can make a difference."