Almost 74 percent of teenagers use the Internet on a regular basis. It's webbed into their lives by way of hobbies, social realms, shopping, and even schoolwork, according to the 2006 Pew Internet & American Life Study.http://www.pewinternet.org/
What parents don't take seriously enough is the vulnerability of a teenager that spends so much time in this cyber world. Teenagers are still children, after all, and still need to be protected.
Did you know that "most online sex offenders are adults who target teens and seduce victims into sexual relationships," according to Sciencedaily.com, a website for research news.
A few statistics revealing the dangers of Internet sex crimes were released by The New Hampshire Crimes Against Children Research Center.
The numbers were shocking to me as a parent of two cyber teens who spend a massive amount of time on the computer.
71 percent ...have received online messages from someone they don’t know
45 percent ...have been asked for personal information by people they don’t know
61 percent ...have posted a personal profile on social networking websites such as MySpace, Friendster or Xanga, and half of them have also posted pictures of themselves
34 percent ....saw sexual material online that they didn’t want to see
13 percent ....received online sexual solicitations
Reasrch listed is quoted directly from Symantec.com( link given below).
71 percent ...have received online messages from someone they don’t know
45 percent ...have been asked for personal information by people they don’t know
61 percent ...have posted a personal profile on social networking websites such as MySpace, Friendster or Xanga, and half of them have also posted pictures of themselves
34 percent ....saw sexual material online that they didn’t want to see
13 percent ....received online sexual solicitations
Reasrch listed is quoted directly from Symantec.com( link given below).
How do we protect our teenagers from perpetrators we can't see?
I first asked myself this question when my eyes were opened after I found a recent search for porn sites on my computer. That's when I realized my little boy wasn't so little anymore. Sex was on his mind, much like the predators looking for their next victim.
My next question was, "What do I do?"
It is unrealistic to shut the computer off and make it forbidden. We also can't supervise every second they spend online. So here is the compromise I learned from various websites on Internet safety:
- Communication: Talk to your teen about Internet safety. Make them aware of the dangers. They wouldn't talk to a stranger on the street, would they? Same rule applies on the web.
- Pay attention to what they are doing online: Ask them to show you the sites they are visiting, look at their page on Myspace. I have moved the family computer into a central location so that I can randomly glance at the screen and see what they are viewing. Use the web browsers history.
- Set boundaries and rules for surfing the net: They have these things in the real world, why wouldn't they have them in the cyber world.
For more information on Internet safety go to: http://www.symantec.com/norton/familyresources/resources.jsp?title=ar_internetsafety_and_your_teen
1 comment:
The online world is growing to the point that there are parallels for everything to the physical world. With that, there's good and bad.
For parents, it just complicates an already challenging (to understate it) job.
Have to keep an eye on what teens are doing online, just like you would when they're out with their friends (and BTW, who are they hanging out with).
I found a quick little article that reinforces this point Mom's Think Internet is as Dangerous as Drunk Driving
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