Do You Know Who or What Your Child has Encountered Online

One in five children who uses an Internet chat room is approached by a pedophile, and one in four children who use the Internet are exposed to unwanted sexual material, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Parents may be happy to know their children are not wandering the streets after school, but with modern day computer use, is it any safer for children to be inside the home when their time is spent wandering the information highway known as the Internet? The Internet is present within more than 95% of computer owner’s homes in the United States, where parents seldom supervise their children’s computer use. On the Internet, children become subject to online crimes such as bullying, exposure to inappropriate material, stalking and child luring, with consequences as serious as sexual assault, abduction or death.

On the Internet, many children and adults feel safe to speak and act however they want. In fact, a student assessment by I-Safe America revealed 31% of students find it easier to talk to people online than in person. Because children feel so safe behind a computer screen, they reveal personal information to strangers they would never give face-to-face: names, photographs, telephone numbers, states and hometowns. More than 70% admit to having bullied someone online, three times more than have bullied in person. Do you know what messages your child sends online?

To learn more about Internet dangers, practicing safe Internet use, and monitoring your child’s Internet use, including home software recommendations, visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children website at:
www.NCMEC.org,
www.NetSmartz.org,
www.NetNanny.com
www.I-Safe.org
or your local computer software store. Many local Sheriff Departments offer classes on how to approach this troubling topic with your child.