Katie Reynolds, 15, is pictured with her mother, Carol Reynolds, in their Lawrence home. Carol says that she is not too restrictive of Katie’s Internet surfing but won’t allow her to have a Myspace account because of the potential for predators.

One of the most popular hangouts for kids is the Internet, where anyone — even as young as 10 — fits in, and electronic self-expression is the order of the day.

But creepy predators and bullies lurk on these social Web sites as well.

Coming to the rescue of concerned parents are computerized security services that monitor the social behavior of children without invading their privacy.

YouDiligence is one such company. Kevin Long, one of three founders of the service, says there was a definite need to monitor Web sites such as Facebook and MySpace.

“Research shows that underage children spend an average of 30 hours of unsupervised time per week on social networking sites,” he says. “Much of that time takes place away from the home computer, in places like libraries, schools and now on cell phones that provide Web access.”

Long says that unlike parental control settings found on home computers, YouDiligence operates under the terms of agreement for each networking site to directly scan the child’s account for words of concern. If a hot word is detected, an e-mail alert is sent to the parent. Clients can choose from a list of words provided, most of which relate to drugs, sex, depression, violence and bullying. Or if they have a concern about a particular person or hangout, they can customize their own word searches.

Unfettered by criticism from privacy advocates, Long says his company is not in the business of spying on kids.

“This is an opportunity to give kids the freedom to socialize online, and it gives comfort to parents,” he says. “We like to think of it as Big Mother and not Big Brother.”

He says the service, which costs about $10 per month, operates with a theme of positive family values.

“We want to embrace the technology and use it to promote good communication and relationships between parents and their kids,” he says.

According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project, two-thirds of parents reported they monitored the Web sites their children visited. YouDiligence, which only began marketing to parents in January, currently monitors about 5,000 children per day.

Lawrence resident Carol Reynolds says open communication is the key to keeping kids safe. Although her daughter, Katie, a ninth-grader at Southwest Junior High, socializes online, she doesn’t see a need for a monitoring program as long as communication is good at home.

“About two years ago, my daughter became aware of a man using a popular networking site to approach some girls at her dance studio,” she says. “She voluntarily removed her profile from the site at my request and opted for a site that seemed safer.”