children and internet safety

In this day and age, it is impossible to keep kids away from the internet. If they don't surf at home, they will in school, at the library, at a friend's house. And the internet can be a valuable resource, supplying access to different cultures, opinions, creativity. Many schools are even using it as a means to dissemanate homework assignments and require it for research.

But as I'm sure we all know, when you use the internet, you are exposing yourself and your history to anyone else online. The internet community is as public as a billboard or a television show. With this understanding, we as adults are very careful about what information we allow ourselves online. Kids may not understand this. That is why it is very important to educate them early and develop good habits on internet safety and etiquette.

Statistics from protectkids.org

• By the end of 1998, more than 40 percent of all American homes had computers, and 25 percent had Internet access. This trend is expected to continue. Children and teenagers are one of the fastest growing groups of Internet users. An estimated 10 million kids are online today. By the year 2002, this figure is expected to increase to 45 million, and by 2005 to 77 million.
  Youth Internet Safety Survey
    
• Only 1/3 of the households with Internet access are proactively protecting their children with filtering or blocking software.
  Center for Missing and Exploited Children
   
• 75% of children are willing to share personal information online about themselves and their family in exchange for goods and services.
  eMarketer
     
• About 25% of the youth who encountered a sexual approach or solicitation told a parent.
  Youth Internet Safety Survery
    
• One in five U.S. teenagers who regularly log on to the Internet say they have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the Web. Solicitations were defined as requests to engage in sexual activities or sexual talk, or to give personal sexual information. 
  Crimes Against Children Research Center
   
• One in 33 youth received an aggressive sexual solicitation in the past year. This means a predator asked a young person to meet somewhere, called a young person on the phone, and/or sent the young person correspondence, money, or gifts through the U.S. Postal Service.
  Youth Internet Safety Survey
   
• 77% of the targets for online preditors were age 14 or older. Another 22% were users ages 10 to 13. 
  Crimes Against Children Research Center
   
• 75 percent of the solicited youth were not troubled, 10 percent did not use chat rooms and 9 percent did not talk to strangers.
  Crimes Against Children Research Center
   
• Only 25% of solicited children were distressed by their encounters and told a parent.
  Crimes Against Children Research Center
   
• Only 17 percent of youth and 11 percent of parents could name a specific authority, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), CyberTipline, or an Internet service provider, to which they could report an Internet crime.
  Youth Internet Safety Survey

Talk to your child about online dangers.
There are people who try to take advantage of the naivete of very young children and the curiosity and restlessness of older kids. Some of these people are after personal information so that they can use your identity for their own purposes. Some of them are sexual predators with more sinister intentions. They may gradually win the child over with friendliness and gifts, spending large amounts of time online with your child. They may seem like a kid themselves, being up on all the latest music, fashions and trends. They may not begin to gradually introduce sexual content into their conversations until a long time has passed and your or your child's guard is down. On the other hand, they may introduce sexually expicit conversation and ideas right away. Some predators collect and trade child pornography while others will try to arrange a meeting with your child. From the FBI information sheet: "It is important for parents to understand that children can be indirectly victimized through conversation, i.e. "chat," as well as the transfer of sexually explicit information and material. Computer-sex offenders may also be evaluating children they come in contact with on-line for future face-to-face contact and direct victimization. Parents and children should remember that a computer-sex offender can be any age or sex the person does not have to fit the caricature of a dirty, unkempt, older man wearing a raincoat to be someone who could harm a child."

Keep the computer in a common room in the house where you can easily see the screen if you walk by. Not in your child's bedroom.

Surf together, and let your child show you his or her favorite sites.

Make sure you have access to all of your child's accounts, including e-mail, blog and chat sites. Check them regularly. These are favorite ways for predators to contact your children privately.

Investigate and use parental controls and blocking software provided by your carrier. While these are not fool-proof, they are a help.

Find out  about other locations your child may be using the internet. Do they have monitors or blocking software at school? at the library? at a friend's house?

Make sure your children understand these basic rules of thumb:

• Never arrange a meeting with someone they meet on-line
• Never post pictures of themselves to people they do not know or in a place with public access
• Never give out their personal information like names, address, phone number, school, birthday
• Never download pictures from an unknown source - they may contain objectionable materials or viruses
• Never respond to harrassing or suggestive messages or postings
• Things you hear on-line may not be true

Adolescents may need more guidance than younger kids. (Again from the FBI guidelines) Children, especially adolescents, are sometimes interested in and curious about sexuality and sexually explicit material. They may be moving away from the total control of parents and seeking to establish new relationships outside their family. Because they may be curious, children/adolescents sometimes use their on-line access to actively seek out such materials and individuals. Sex offenders targeting children will use and exploit these characteristics and needs. Some adolescent children may also be attracted to and lured by on-line offenders closer to their age who, although not technically child molesters, may be dangerous. Nevertheless, they have been seduced and manipulated by a clever offender and do not fully understand or recognize the potential danger of these contacts.

Warning signs:

• Increased time on the internet, especially in the evening or at night
• You find objectionable material on the computer. Predators often use photos to open a line of discussion or to establish "normalcy".
• Your child makes or receives phone calls to or from people you don't recognize - especially if they are long distance.
• Your child receives mail or packages from people you don't recognize.
• Your child prevents you from seeing what he or she is looking at on the screen.
• Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.
• Your child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else.

Then what steps can I take?

• Talk to your child in a non-accusatory way about what you think is going on and about the dangers.
• Check on what is on your child's computer, check histories and junk folders as well as the trash.
• Check the caller ID. Check the redial. Call the phone company about call blocker if you need to.
• Monitor on-line chats and e-mail. At least do "drop-ins".

When do I need to contact the authorities?
(Local or state law enforcement agency, the FBI, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children)

• You find child pornograpy.
• Your child has received a sexual solicitation from someone who knows they are under 18.
• Your child has received sexual materials from someone who knows they are under 18.

If one of these scenarios occurs, keep the computer turned off in order to preserve any evidence for future law enforcement use. Unless directed to do so by the law enforcement agency, you should not attempt to copy any of the images and/or text found on the computer.

More information:

For parents of younger kids:
http://disney.go.com/surfswell/index2.html
http://www.safekids.com/
http://www.ikeepsafe.org/

For parents of teens:
http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm
http://dmoz.org/Kids_and_Teens/Computers/Internet/Safety/