Get 'Em Trained Early

NSA Cartoons Encourage Kids to Spy on Their Families



"You know what's kewl, kids? The National Security Agency sure does: it's making codes, cracking codes, hanging out in Qatar, and monitoring the online activities of your loved ones constantly. The NSA's totally boss cartoons will school you.

The NSA's cartoon characters for kids include "Sergeant Sam," a Latino NSA agent who joined the military after high school, learned to speak Chinese, became acquainted with "Asian customs" when stationed in Hawaii (uh...), and eventually picked up Arabic while hanging out with the locals in Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two countries known for their welcoming attitude toward American military spies.

There's also "T. Top," a hearing impaired youngster who is part of a code-breaking club at school and who also chats with an international cadre of strangers on the internet, which he finds "totally KEWL."

And then there's "Decipher Dog," who salved the pain of his mom's overseas deployment by learning to set up computer networks just like she does. Later he graduated into codebreaking and spying on his siblings and parents."