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Online predators
Keep a watch on your child's online enterprises
From: Webaware
Using Internet communication tools such as chat rooms, e-mail
and instant messaging can put children at risk of encountering
online predators. The anonymity of the Internet means that
trust and intimacy can develop quickly online. Predators take
advantage of this anonymity to build online relationships
with inexperienced young people. Parents can help protect
their kids by becoming aware of the risks related to online
communication and being involved in their kids' Internet activities.
How do online predators work?
Which young people are at risk?
How can parents minimize the risk of a child
becoming a victim?
How can your kids reduce the risk of being victimized?
How can you tell if your child is being targeted?
What can you do if your child is being targeted?
How do online predators
work?
Predators establish contact with kids through conversations
in chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mail or discussion boards.
Many teens use "peer support" online forums to deal
with their problems. Predators, however, often go to these
online areas to look for vulnerable victims.
Online predators try to gradually seduce their targets through
attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts, and often
devote considerable time, money and energy to this effort.
They are aware of the latest music and hobbies likely to interest
kids. They listen to and sympathize with kids' problems. They
also try to ease young people's inhibitions by gradually introducing
sexual content into their conversations or by showing them
sexually explicit material.
Some predators work faster than others, engaging in sexually
explicit conversations immediately. This more direct approach
may include harassment or stalking. Predators may also evaluate
the kids they meet online for future face-to-face contact.
Which young people are at
risk?
Young adolescents are the most vulnerable age group and are
at high risk of being approached by online predators. They
are exploring their sexuality, moving away from parental control
and looking for new relationships outside the family. Under
the guise of anonymity, they are more likely to take risks
online without fully understanding the possible implications.
Young people who are most vulnerable to online predators
tend to be:
- new to online activity and unfamiliar with "Netiquette"
- actively seeking attention or affection
- rebellious
- isolated or lonely
- curious
- confused regarding sexual identity
- easily tricked by adults
- attracted by subcultures apart from their parents' world
Kids feel they are aware of the dangers of predators, but
in reality they are quite naive about online relationships.
In focus groups conducted by the Media Awareness Network,
girls aged 11 to 14 initially said they disguised their identities
in chat rooms. They admitted, however, that it was impossible
to maintain a false identity for long and eventually revealed
personal information when they felt they could "trust
a person."
Building this "trust" took from 15 minutes to several
weeks - not a long time for a skillful predator to wait.
How can parents minimize the risk
of a child becoming a victim?
- Get involved; talk to your kids about sexual predators
and potential online dangers.
- Young children shouldn't use chat rooms, period - the
dangers are too great. As children get older, direct them
towards well-monitored kids' chat rooms. Even your teens
should be encouraged to use monitored chat rooms.
- If your children take part in chat rooms, make sure you
know which ones they visit and with whom they talk. Monitor
the chat areas yourself to see what kind of conversations
take place.
- Instruct your children to never leave the chat room's
public area. Chat rooms offer users one-on-one chats with
other users - so chat monitors and other users can't read
these conversations.
- Keep the Internet-connected computer in a common area
of the house, never in a child's bedroom. It is much more
difficult for a predator to establish a relationship with
your child if the computer screen is easily visible.
- When your children are young, they should share the family
e-mail address rather than have their own e-mail accounts.
As they get older, you can ask your Internet Service Provider
(ISP) to set up a separate e-mail address, but your children's
mail can still reside in your account.
- Tell your children to never respond to instant messaging
or e-mails from strangers.
- For places outside your supervision - public library,
school, or friends' homes - find out what computer safeguards
are used.
- Make sure you have rules about meeting Internet friends
in person; a parent must be told if a meeting is being planned
and a parent should be in attendance at the meeting. Rules
do make a difference. Research by the Media Awareness Network
in 2005 shows having a rule about meeting online acquaintances
(which 74 per cent of households have) reduces the likelihood
of this happening by one-half.
- If all precautions fail and your kids do meet an online
predator, don't blame them. The offender always bears full
responsibility.
How can your kids reduce the
risk of being victimized?
There are a number of precautions to take, including:
- never downloading images from an unknown source - they
could be sexually explicit
- telling an adult immediately if anything happens online
that makes them feel uncomfortable or frightened
- choosing a gender-neutral screen name that doesn't contain
sexually suggestive words or reveal personal information
- never revealing personal information (including age and
gender) to anyone online and not filling out online personal
profiles
How can you tell if your child
is being targeted?
It is possible that your child is the target of an online
predator if:
- Your child or teen spends a great deal of time online
Most children who are victims of online predators spend
a lot of time online, particularly in chat rooms.
- You find pornography on the family computer Predators
often use pornography to sexually victimize children - supplying
it to open sexual discussions with potential victims. Predators
may use child pornography to convince a child that adults
having sex with children is "normal." You should
be aware that your child may hide pornographic files on
diskettes, especially if other family members use the computer.
- Your child or teen receives phone calls from people you
don't know; or makes calls (sometimes long distance) to
numbers you don't recognize Online predators may try to
contact young people to engage in "phone sex,"
or to try to set up a real-world meeting. If kids hesitate
giving out their home phone number, online sex offenders
will provide theirs. Some even have toll-free 1-800 numbers,
so potential victims can call them without their parents'
knowledge. Others will tell children to call collect - and
then, with Caller ID or Call Display, they can easily determine
the phone number.
- Your child or teen receives mail, gifts or packages from
someone you don't know It is common for offenders to send
letters, photographs and gifts to potential victims. Computer
sex offenders even send airline tickets to entice a child
or teen to meet them.
- Your child or teen withdraws from family and friends;
or quickly turns the computer monitor off or changes the
screen if an adult enters the room Online predators work
hard to drive wedges between kids and their families, often
exaggerating minor problems at home. Sexually victimized
children tend to become withdrawn and depressed.
- Your child is using someone else's online account Even
kids who don't have access to the Internet at home may meet
an offender while online at a friend's house or the library.
Predators sometimes provide victims with a computer account
so they can communicate.
What can you do if your child
is being targeted?
- If your child receives sexually explicit images from
an online correspondent, or if she or he is solicited sexually,
contact your local police. You can also report incidents
to the Cybertip! hotline at http://www.cybertip.ca.
For more information, see the Reporting Trouble section
of our Web site.
- Check your computer for pornographic files or any type
of sexual communication - these are often warning signs
- Monitor your child's access to all live electronic communications,
such as chat rooms, instant messages and e-mail. Online
predators usually meet potential victims in chat rooms at
first, and then continue communicating with them through
e-mail.
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