internet crimes against children: blog 
internet crimes against children's blog
no good reason
by Durham Police ICACPublished Jul. 14, 2008
Over the last year and a half I have given around 20-30 internet safety presentations. These presentations are usually to kids 12-15 years old and around 25 - 30 kids in each presentation. None of my presentations are exactly the same, but I do try to ask some questions of all the kids. Mainly, "What social networking sites do you know? Which ones are you a member of?" and "How many of you have a computer in your room with internet access?"
I ask these questions so that when I do presentations for parents or teachers I can ask, "What social networking sites do you know? What social networking sites are your kids a member of?" and "How many of your kids have a computer with internet access in their rooms?" As you can imagine, the answers usually do not match.
As parents you must educate yourselves as to what social networking sites are out there and what sites your kids use. I do not think there is anyone out there that does not know what Myspace or Facebook are, but what if I said:
- Bebo - very popular with young teens
- BlackPlanet - catered to the black community
- Broadcaster - a site center around webcams (scary enough in itself)
- Xanga
- Multiply
- Stickam
- Orkut _ not very popular in the US, but owned by Google so it will be
- MiGente - catered to the latin community
- AsianAve - catered to the Asian community
- Friendster - one of the first
- hi5
- GLEE - G.ay L.esbian and E.veryone E.lse
- Second Life - a virtual world
And these are just a small number of the ones out there. The reason I mention them is that I am just one man, it would be impossible for me to be at all these places. I must rely on parents to be proactive in their child's internet life.
Now when I ask kids if they have a computer in their room I typically get 50 - 75% of kids saying they do. When I ask a group of parents if their kids have computers in their rooms I might get one hand, maybe. The typically excuse given by parents is, "You don't know my kid, he would never do anything bad on there." or "You don't know my kid, he couldn't live without it." I usually tell them, "You're right, I don't know your kid, but I know the people who are looking for your kid. They are tireless, constant, and merciless until they find your kid."
There is not a single good reason for a child to have a computer with internet access in their room. Move the computer to a public space in your home. If it is a laptop, lock it to something. If you have a webcam, disable it.
Remember 1 in 25 children will receive an aggressive sexual solicitation online.
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The monitor is in a position where you just have to look over and see it. it is not facing straight out where you have to be standing over their shoulder to see what they are doing.
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