A report published by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the University of New Hampshire revealed that from a sample of children and adolescents who use the Internet:
1 in 5 children: requested for sex in the last year.
1 in 33 children: Aggressively requested sex, meaning the child was threatened, asked to meet, called on the phone, or received mail or gifts.
1 in 4 children: exposed to photos of people having sex, despite the fact that approximately 1/3 of households reported using “internet blocking software.”
1 in 17 children: threatened or harassed on the Internet, including threats of harm to the child, friends or other family members.
Unfortunately, adults are currently free to distribute non-obscene adult sexual content to children online without legal recourse. This creates the following irony: publishers and distributors of pornographic magazines or videos are prohibited by law from selling, renting or displaying them to children in a bookstore or video store; but the same publishers and distributors are legally free to sell or show those same magazines and videos to children online.
There are recurring press reports of pedophiles using chat rooms to lure children into physical gatherings. According to a recent report by a national newspaper, chat rooms are the most popular activity for children online, yet most chat rooms are unsupervised. Many are “private”, accessible only by invitation and special passwords (which can be provided to children via email or “instant-type” messages on a target child’s screen).
By using chat rooms, strange adults can have direct one-on-one access to our children. The “safe” home environment, combined with our children’s natural confidence, can lead them to forget that these people are strangers. This makes it easy for the pedophile to prey on children who would never speak to a stranger in the “real world.”
Police investigators report that when they identify themselves as teenagers in chat rooms, they are often approached by strangers who make sexual advances. In addition, pedophiles have created an online community, where they can validate their behavior with other like-minded people and share information and ‘tricks of the trade’.
One of the biggest obstacles pedophiles face is the fear of being caught and the threat and danger of arrest.
Parents have the primary responsibility to teach their children to be safe and wise Internet users. To do that, parents need to be familiar with practical and helpful resources, safety tips, and technology.
Ultimately, parental involvement is critical to the success of online experiences, as well as avoiding other pitfalls in life, such as alcohol or drug abuse. Parents should educate their children about online safety, including the possibility of encountering pedophiles, which means that parents themselves must become familiar with the medium.
There is software available online that can stop these predators and protect your children from the reach of these sick people.
And while this software cannot prevent predatory pedophiles from searching for children on the Internet, it offers substantial protection for your children by allowing you to monitor their Internet activity.
If a pedophile has an online conversation with your child, the software records that conversation, including any incriminating evidence, as well as any personal or contact information you may give your child.
This software can even capture images of who your kids might be chatting with on MySpace.com
You will be able to read BOTH sides of the conversation. Now you can see if you have approached your child or if you had a conversation with someone you shouldn’t, you will be able to act on it and report it to the local police AND prevent you from contacting your child again.
Is it wrong to spy on your children?
No. Of course, some people may disagree, but WE KNOW that in today’s “sexually charged” environment, it is only a matter of time until your child is exposed to things, people, or situations that they shouldn’t.
When you monitor your child’s online activities, you are not eavesdropping, you are acting as a responsible parent and taking charge of the people and images that attack your child every day.
To those people who might disagree with me and insist that using software like this is “spying,” then we say, “If it keeps your child safe, so what?”
If “spying” on what your children are doing online helps keep them and my family safe, then there is no harm or fault.
Even if you don’t care about online sex offenders (and you should be), the pressure from teen peers is extremely intense these days. Controlling your children will also help them stay out of trouble.
There are many software packages available on the net, check which one suits you. The one I’m using for my kids’ safety is called Tattletale, and you can get the link on my blog to make it work great. Fortunately, I have not had any concerns yet, but for my wife and me it is knowing that the children are safe, enjoying the Internet, which for them is a wonderful resource to study and chat with real friends.
So make sure your children are safe in your own home and buy good software to protect them, it will prevent these sick people from ruining your child’s life.
But remember that parents should not be expected to shoulder all the responsibility for this job alone. For the Internet to be a safe, educational, and entertaining medium for children, responsibility must be shared by the public (including parents, teachers, and others), the technology industry, and the law enforcement community. Each must take their share of responsibility and act with due diligence. With this community commitment, the Internet will not only be a rewarding place for children, but also a safe place.
Petalac