.: Is my child a target for internet predators?
By:Michael Ryan
Category:Home / Family / Parenting
Thankfully, the answer is probably not. Most children use the internet to socialize with friends and pursue budding interests. They manage to steer clear of the dangerous predators lurking in chat rooms and other forums who slyly manipulate their way into electronic networks of school-age friends to find and groom the next vulnerable child for future exploitation. While most children are safe on the internet, as you read these words some are in danger. Is your child one of these unfortunate few? How would you know before it is too late?
Given the risks, parents cannot feel secure with the mere probability their child will be safe. Even "good" or "smart" children are still just children and make, or can be induced to make, bad decisions with tragic consequences. Short of physically being present during your child's every encounter with the internet, there is no way for a parent to be 100% sure their child has not been contacted by a predator. Parents need to know the characteristics of typical victims, the warning signs a predator has entered your child's life, and steps they can take to protect their children.
Characteristics of typical victims:
* Most but not all victims are between the age of 12 and 15 years old.
* Most victims have an instant message account (most kids do) but have not set up privacy or security settings to block strangers and, in fact, willingly engage in conversations with strangers.
* Most victims tend to live in suburban or rural towns.
* Most victims are very sheltered and naïve, although a few are at the opposite extreme and willing to take very serious risks.
* Most victims tend to be loners with few offline friends. They are often looking for love and affection online. Many children contacted by predators believe they are communicating with someone around their own age, and not with an adult.
* Most victims tend to spend more than 90 minutes of non-homework time a day online, and are secretive about their internet activities. When you walk by, the screen often goes blank or windows are minimized.
* Most victims tend to have few activities outside of the internet.
Just because your child matches one or more of these characteristics does not mean they are being targeted by predators, nor is your child perfectly safe if they match none of these characteristics. In all circumstances, a parent should be ever vigilant and involved in their children's on-line activities.
Warning signs your child is being contacted by a predator:
* Phone calls. Are strange calls showing up on your phone bills? Don't assume you can pick out adults calling your children - a 35 year old can sound very much like a 15 year old if they want to.
* Gifts and packages arriving at your house. Many predators groom their victims by sending small gifts. Some predators have been known to send disposable cameras or web cameras for children to take pictures of themselves with.
* Secrecy. Teens are often secretive, and often it is a symptom of nothing more than their carving out an independent life for themselves. However, if your child is taking secrecy to an extreme, or has suddenly become more secretive than before, it is cause for concern.
* Trust your gut. If something doesn't feel right, it probably isn't. Predators are masters of manipulation. Unexplained and sudden changes in your child's mood or behavior may be a sign they are being manipulated in ways they are not comfortable with but are reluctant to talk about.
Steps to protect your child:
* Teach your child to not communicate online with people they have not physically met offline. This absolutely means friends of friends. Predators often infiltrate a network of child friends by finding the one weak link and using that person's trust to gain contact with others. Under no circumstances should a child meet in person someone they only know online - in most cases where a child is exploited, the child is conned or coerced into willingly meeting the predator offline
* Go through your child's list of internet buddies and have them tell you the real name of each person on the list.
* Review you child's home page or online profile. Make sure there is no personally identifiable information there, including photos, school name, or team names. Many predators keep detailed files on their targets and gather information over time from a variety of sources. Even seemingly innocuous information may prove harmful when combined with comments made weeks or months later. "I play catcher on my baseball team", "I went to a Red Sox game!", and "Big game against Bedford tomorrow - I hope we crush them!" can tell a predator their target probably lives in the Boston area and is playing baseball somewhere in Bedford the following afternoon. A quick Google search will show the public schools in Bedford and which ones have baseball games scheduled.
* If your child has been approached or harassed online, have them immediately delete their old account, pick a new username and start another. Do not let the harassment continue.
* Absolutely prohibit web-cams. Easy-to-use $20 Webcams instantly transmit high-quality continuous color video across the globe and are used by predators to exploit children.
* Most importantly, install keylogger or monitoring software on the computer used by your child( one vendor of such software is PCSentinel Software - www.pcsentinelsoftware.com ). There is no other way to be totally certain of what your child is doing online or who they are communicating with - and there is no other way of keeping 100% accurate records of what was said in the event your child is contacted by a predator. Even though it may feel like "spying" on your child, a parent has a responsibility to know with certainty who is in their child's life and keylogger software provides that certainty.
Article keywords: Internet, predator, child safety, instant message, keylogger
Article Source: http://www.articles32.com
Michael Ryan owns and operates PCSentinel Software, developer of easy-to-use keylogger software like PCSentinel's Busted: Keylogger and Instant Message Monitor and PCSentinel's Red-Handed: Record Instant Messages!
.: New Parenting Articles
1). Helping Your Child Understand What You Do at Home
Being a stay at home mom is a tough job. Encouraging your children to help out helps them to understand what you do and to respect it.
2). Who Loathes Laundry?
Laundry is a pain but it must be done! Enlisting the family to help makes it a bit less of a chore.
3). How To Create A Baby Gift Basket
This article is everything you wanted to know about baby gift baskets.
4). Tips On Different Parenting Style
I worked out very early in life that no two parenting styles are alike.
5). How To Keep Your Child Safe On The Internet
The Internet can be a source of entertainment and information for your children, and it will be a workplace tool as they grow older.
However, it also poses threats to their safety. This article gives you some tips to help keep your child safe.
6). Daughter Commits Abuse Mother Goes To Jail
After questioning, Josephine admitted the she had caused the bruises on Scott when she was under stress. She was in tears.
7). Good Tips For Potty Training Girls
Discover helpful insights and tips to help you potty train your child.
.: Top Parenting Articles
1). Prevent Your Teenager From Becoming A Statistic
Parents please don't be naive in thinking that your teenager is not having sex, the majority of teenagers are. We have to better educate our children on the risks of unprotected sex. This task may sound embarrassing for both you and your teenager but it must be done. Schools only scrape the surface when discussing unprotected sex, stating that they can catch STD's and fall pregnant; where they fail is by not shocking our teenagers with the realities of these subjects.
2). Solving Baby Slep Problems - The Ferber Method
Nothing can prepare new parents for the mind numbing weariness that comes with lack of sleep. A new baby may be tiny but the havoc they wreak to your sleep is huge. It can take work to establish good sleeping habits. One of the hardest things for your baby is to learn to fall asleep on his own.
I firmly believe that parents need to reclaim their evenings.
3). Child Discipline: What Really Works?
One thing I hate to do is discipline my son. He is such a good boy most of the time, but when he gets angry he is awful! Disciplining your child is one of the hardest things to do as a parent. It is important that they understand that you are in charge, not them.
I remember getting spankings until I was around 6 or 7 years old. I did everything I could to avoid making my mother and father angry.
4). Why first borns fuss, seconds are resilient and youngests like to laugh
How can two or three children in the same family be so different? They are brought up in the same broad social environment, under a similar set of rules and an identical family value system. They also come from the same genetic pool yet they can be so different in personality, interests and achievement. While they may be born into the same family they are not born into the same position.
5). Teaching a Child Responsible Behavior Begins at Home
Parents are teachers, too. When it comes to child rearing, one of the most important lessons a parent can teach their youngster is responsible behavior. This means helping the child learn how to interact with others in a way that displays self-respect, as well as respect toward others.
No child comes into this world pre-programmed with good manners and virtuous attributes such as a willingness to share, consideration for the feelings of others, respect for others possessions, respect for authority figures, and a selfless attitude.
6). Is My Teen Lying?
All teens lie, right? Teen lying is something that is done harmlessly and viciously. Teens lie for many reasons; most of them have to do with their ability to do it. Pulling a fast one over on mom and dad is something you probably tried too. But, in today's world, lying teens can get into a whole lot more trouble than you could. That is what makes it so important to know if your teen is lying to you and then to handle it.
7). Partnership Between Parents and Kindergarten Teachers
Pre-school is an educative learning partner of the family. Some reasons that kindergarten is an extremely important educative factor are:
- Kindergarten creates an environment for children and it helps them develop their social skills
- Kindergarten prepares children for primary school
- is a protective environment and passes the time with children.