Keep
your kid safe on the internet!
This is an interactive site. There is a message board
where interested people can post about online safety, and a place to tell
your own online safety stories. All are invited to
participate.
I think we’re covering a continuing story. And this
problem isn’t going away. You know, we’ve done 10 investigations so far.
And I’ll bet you that we could walk into virtually any town in America
and do it again.
-Chris Hanson, when asked why Dateline
NBC keeps doing 'To Catch a Predator'
investigations
Parents!
Look at these
shocking statistics:
1. An estimated
725,000 people have been aggressively pursued for sex online
2. 1 out
of 4 children were sent pictures of people who were naked or having
sex.
3. 1 out of 5 kids were solicited for sex on the Internet.
4.
50 percent of people have made phone calls with someone they chatted with
online.
Parents, what are your kids doing online? Do you
really know?
More than a third
of students in grades five through eight say their parents would
disapprove if they knew what they did, where they went, or with whom they
chatted on the Internet.
Millions of Americans were riveted
to the television screen during To Catch a Predator, Dateline NBC's series on
sexual predators. The newest release by Dateline NBC on this subject is
Predator Raw: The Unseen Tapes: Footage and interviews from the
``To Catch a Predator'' series, which is even more
disturbing than the regular program. Who is most at risk?
Children left alone at home after school may be vulnerable
to advances from sexual predators, law-enforcement officials
say.
''People that prey on kids are looking for latchkey kids,
single-parent kids, kids who indicate online they feel misunderstood or
unloved,'' said Florida
Department of Law Enforcement Special Agent Don Condon. ``Kids are
just extremely vulnerable when they're talking
online.''
On
average, 89% of sexual solicitations were made in either chat rooms or
instant messages and 1 in 5 children between the ages 10-17 has been
sexually solicited online (Journal of the American Medical Association,
2001). Since 25% of kids online participate in real time chat and more
than 13 million use instant messaging, the risks to children are
incalculable. Does that frighten you? Good. It should.
"Do you know what your kids are doing online? Even though
you might not be watching their online activities, you can bet
that they are being watched by less desirable cyberspace observers –
online predators", says Gery L. Deer of Deer Computer
Consulting.
Below are more statistics from i-SAFE
America's National Assessment Center that reveal glaring irresponsible use
of the Internet by families across the United States.
Parents
and Students Need Your Help
- 92% of parents say they have established rules for their child's
Internet activity**
- 34% of students say their parents have not established rules for
Internet activity*
- 40% of students do not discuss Internet safety with their parents*
- 55% have shared their personal information (name, sex, age, etc.)
over the Internet
- 10% feel it is okay to post their picture on the Internet
- 10% have met someone face-to-face after first meeting that person
online.
*2003-04 i-SAFE survey of 19,000 students grades
5-8
**3,000 parents responded to i-SAFE Parent survey
YouTube ran a video showing a dramatization of what a
chatroom might be like if the people were physically in a room together.
Watch this and see if this is something you'd want your child to
be involved in. Many chatrooms are very much like the one shown here,
except the people are behind computer screens, with the anonymity that
goes along with that.
Parents, the safety of your children
online is more at stake now than at any other time in
history.
What
can parents do to keep their children safe?
Free Ebook for Parents and
Educators
Click
Here
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This is a new site which is dedicated to online
safety for children. If you have any suggestions, feel free to email
me at avedwards@gmail.com
Site owned by Angela V.
Edwards
Partner sites
KidsBeSafeOnline is designed to keep parents abreast
of what teens face online. It describes popular -- but potentially
dangerous -- online activities and gives tips on how to moderate and
monitor internet use. |
On the "Internet Safety In The News" page,
there are riveting videos you can watch, including the sting that Miss
America and America's Most Wanted televised which caught several online
predators in action, soliciting children online for sex.
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