Guilbeau was one of two teens chosen from across the state to represent his school, his city and Cox Communications in a teen summit that took place June 27 in the nation's capitol.

While he was there, Guilbeau had the chance to participate in round table discussions with John Walsh, the national spokesperson for missing and exploited children, as well as Miss America 2007 Lauren Nelson.

Cox provided Guilbeau an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to help promote what Cox spokeswoman Patricia Parks calls the company's primary initiative.

"At Cox, we realize that the Internet is a great educational tool as well as an entertainment outlet. We also realize it's a place where predators can lurk," she said.

In 2004, Cox teamed up with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and expanded its Netsmartz program, which is designed to help educate parents about Internet use.

"Through Cox Internet, parents can log onto www.cox.com/takecharge and set up passwords and select time frames that their children are able to access the Internet," Parks said. "This is a really good tool for parents of latchkey kids."

Each student at the summit was able to bring one parent, who also received some Internet- safety training. Eric's dad, Keith Guilbeau, attended the summit with him.

"He doesn't know much about the Internet, so he was just learning about Myspace and everything," Eric Guilbeau said.

Myspace and Facebook are two of the largest and most popular social networking groups for teens online.

"A lot of teens do put too much info on their pages, like their hobbies and where they live," Eric Guilbeau said.

Cox provided statistics that show 71 percent of all teens have set up profiles on social networking sites this year. That's up from 61 percent in 2006.

Guilbeau said he and other teens who attended the conference are planning to set up a special Myspace page to address the danger of Internet predators.

"We thought if we brought the information to them, they would get the information and actually listen to it and try to use it," he said.

The Carencro teen had a chance to talk one-on-one with U.S. Rep. Richard Baker about his ideas to promote Internet safety awareness.

"I felt pretty good about that," Guilbeau said. "It's not every day a 17-year-old kid gets to talk with his congressman about an issue that not only affects him, but also his peers.

"I just wanted to let him know that there are people out here like Cox who are working to get the word out," he said.

The Carencro Academy of Information Technology student said his favorite part of the trip came from sharing ideas in the round table discussions.

Parks said Cox's efforts won't stop with the Washington, D.C., conference.

"There will be e-training seminars for Cox employees on Internet safety. We will then transfer that training to the public," she said.

The topic also will get publicity this fall when the national A&E channel airs a documentary on the students' experiences and discussions at the recent summit.

"We've had cameras following us around all day," Parks said from the conference. "They are here doing a documentary on the topic. They hope to have it ready to air in November. After that, the film will be adapted to become an in-school training tape."

Last week's National Teen Summit on Internet Safety was Cox's second annual event. It's held in June each year because June is National Internet Safety Month.