Keeping Your Kids Safe Online

There is a disturbing new trend involving youth that is the new "it" thing on YouTube. Pre-teen and teenage kids, mostly girls, are uploading videos of themselves asking the question, "Do you think I'm pretty?" This may seem harmless to those children who are posting these videos, but what they don't realize is that these videos open the door to a plethora of Internet dangers.

Most youth today live in the land of social media. They use their Smartphone to text, BBM, tweet, connect with friends on Facebook, post pictures on virtual corkboards via Pinterest and let everyone know where they are on Foursquare. Privacy is no longer an issue because they share their entire lives with complete strangers unaware of how dangerous those strangers could become.

The Internet, and now social media, has given sexual predators access to youth, not only around the country, but also abroad. The Crime Against Children Research Center reports that 1 in 5 kids has received unwanted sexual solicitations via the web, and 25 percent of kids who use the Internet say they have been exposed to unwanted pornographic material online. 77 percent of those youth targeted were 14 or older. 22 percent were 10-13 years of age.

As a parent/guardian, you simply can't keep your children from connecting with others via social media, but, there are some warning signs of which you must be aware, that may indicate whether or not your child has been contacted by a sexual predator, including:

• Increased activity on their phones or the internet
• pornography on your child's computer
• receiving phone calls from adults you don't know
• letters, gifts and packages in the mail from unknown sources addressed to your child

According to the FBI, there are some things you can do to safeguard your children from being victimized by sexual predators online. They include:

1. Talk to your child. This may sound simple, but have simple conversations with your children works wonders. Take advantage of "teachable moments" when you can share with your kids what they should, and should not, do in situations. Don't allow the fact that they may not be listening deter you, just continue to communicate with them so they will feel comfortable coming to you when they need to talk.
2. Keep the computer in an open environment. Placing the computer in the family room will diminish your child's opportunity for private chatting. Doing so will always allow you to see what they are doing on the computer.
3. Review your child's cell phone records. Doing this will help you to monitor calls sent and received. It also gives you an idea about what they are discussing via text messages and with whom.

If you find that a sexual predator has contacted your child, contact your local authorities. The sooner you can report the incident, the sooner you can disconnect that person's contact with your child.

You can learn more at Black and Missing Foundation, Inc

 

Follow Candance L. Greene on Twitter: www.twitter.com/cherishedflight

Comments

[Carolyn Moon]

11:20 PM on 02/25/2012

This is an informative and significant article as it addresses a critical issue in our society with doable and practical solutions offered. We are facing a relatively new electronic communications frontier which requires a different paradigm for safety. Concerned adults and professionals like Candance Greene are providing paths to navigate this sometimes complicated and cautionary territory. Thanks for this!

[candancelgreene]

02:31 PM on 02/27/2012

I appreciate your comment. We must be more aware, and more involved with our children. Their safety and their lives are too important for us to live with our heads in the sand.

[schaeboy]

02:23 PM on 02/24/2012

Great article. We all need to workk together to keep kds safe. Please read this blog article I wrote for additional information. http://pfcuandyou.com/uncategorized/danger-spiders-keeping-kids-safe-on-the-worldwide-web/

[BiggpussJr]

01:44 PM on 02/24/2012

As a co-worker reminded me, I also "spoke" to a few teachers, coaches, and other adults who made "what I considered" (her words) improper comments to my girls. And a few times I had to say"oops sorry" but I would rather have been safe than sorry. Is that better Ellen? lmao

[BiggpussJr]

01:35 PM on 02/24/2012

Maybe if we treated children like CHILDREN instead of little adults. But that would be too much like right. A parent should not have to be TOLD to monitor their childrens activities. I watched EVERYTHING that my girls did. From who they talked to, to what they wore. I was there for cheerleading, yearbook, girl scouts, and after school tutoring. I wanted ANY adult that was in contact with my child to KNOW that I was THERE. And when they were young they AND my friends called me OVERPROTECTIVE. But when it comes to your child there is no such thing. Now in their 20's they joke that if they were young now, they would have no cell phones, no computers, and certainlly no "Teen Mom". Parents today MAKE their own job harder.

[Right Bright]

10:54 AM on 02/24/2012

Everything you say is true. The advice is sound. But it doesn't go quite far enough.

Our kids are exposed to as much danger on television and in movies. They are becoming used to violence, profanity and unrestrained sexuality. I see none of your good advice surfacing in public service announcements by performers, musicians and other public figures. If the kids begin to accept this as normal or common, what self-restraint can you expect from them?

[do be do be do]

10:28 AM on 02/24/2012

'Course, considering the possibility that we are so infantilizing our youth that we make them ripe for "predation" would demand that we recognize that taking a risk is part of what it means to be alive. Then, though, we might have to empower them not only with HONEST information but with a whole lot more freedom of action than is currently considered "safe."

Given the fact that even so-called adults are all about demanding that big-daddy government construct a perfect cocoon of safety (hence a $15trillion debt), it's no wonder that we've perfected the 'fret and worry' for raising our kids.

[Fictional reality]

09:53 AM on 02/24/2012

Good article Candance. We must take responsibility for our children. People don't like to do that anymore.

[candancelgreene]

02:28 PM on 02/27/2012

Thank you and thanks so much for commenting! We have to be vigilent. The safety of our children is at stake.