While Marvel’s Spiderman is known for casting webs to protect people from villains, it was Alaska’s own “Incredible Hulk” who was honored for his work on protecting children on another kind of web.

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), known on Capitol Hill as the the Hulk, today received the Wired Kids’ first annual Internet Super Hero Award at the organization’s fifth Wired Kids Summit. Stevens was presented with the honor for his commitment to educating and protecting children on the World Wide Web.

“The Internet Super Hero Award is given to people who do extraordinary things, ordinary people who tap the super hero within them,” said Parry Aftab, Executive Director of Wiredsafety.org. “Senator Ted Stevens, as many of you know, has been a hero to children throughout the United States.

” Wired Kids’ Teenangels and the newly formed Tweenangels are FBI-trained teenage and preteen “experts” on Internet safety and policy. The organization’s Wired Kids Summit is an event designed to inform policymakers, law enforcement and Internet and entertainment industry leaders about important kids-related Internet issues. Last year, Senator Stevens teamed with Wired Kids, and superheroes Spiderman and the Incredible Hulk to teach Anchorage students about Internet safety.

 Addressing the children attending the Summit, Stevens said: “The Internet is a great thing for America and for the world. I am chairman of a committee now that works to make the Internet not only safer, but more available to everybody. The Internet has brought our Natives into the global economy. The Internet has brought our states together. It brought our schools together. In Alaska, we teach at schools that have 12 grades in one building by using the Internet at our universities in Fairbanks and Anchorage. They learn what you learn, whereas just a few years ago they did not have that opportunity with only one or two teachers in 12 grades. So the Internet means a lot to us in Alaska. I hope it means a lot to you and we hope you’ll work to help us save the Internet and make it safe for everybody.”