Internet Predators: Are We Giving Them Easy Access to Our Children?
What is the most popular method a sexual predator now uses to search for potential victims? If you guessed the Internet, then you are correct. Chat rooms and open forums are now the preferred "online hunting grounds" of predators. It is estimated that 20 percent of children who use chat rooms have been approached by a pedophile. However, only one out of four ever tell a parent that they were approached.
Children as young as five or six years old are playing online games which can enable them to interact with other players around the world, but only 50% of those children are being supervised. It can seem harmless to let our children play these games but pedophiles are also attracted to these gaming communities.
Predators are always looking for a way into our children's lives. They educate themselves with what is current in the music and movie industries, and then the majority of them make themselves comfortable in social networking sites, obsessed with finding ways to capture our child's attention.
So many kids have been sent sexual material across the Internet, and have been extremely disturbed by it, yet they don't always mention it to their parents. Children have been threatened and harassed, and they are afraid. Studies among teens have revealed that many of them have considered meeting someone they have only met online, while a small percentage of those have actually had a face-to-face meeting that their parents were not aware of, despite our countless warnings.
We have to let pedophiles know that we will not tolerate their behavior, but how do we do that if our kids are not confiding in us? There are times that we may have to take a more assertive approach, especially if we see any behavioral changes in our children. It can be as simple as moving a child's computer from their room to the family room, to monitoring who they are communicating with, by using programs such as, PC Tattletale or PC Pandora. We have to do whatever it takes to keep our children safe.
Tina Mahan
March 3,2012
Note: For monitoring software such as PC Pandora or PC Tattletale, see my "products" section.
Do you know the warning signs of a child in trouble? You may want to read my newest article at Ezine.
A Parents Guide to Recognizing the Signs of a Child in Trouble.
Children as young as five or six years old are playing online games which can enable them to interact with other players around the world, but only 50% of those children are being supervised. It can seem harmless to let our children play these games but pedophiles are also attracted to these gaming communities.
Predators are always looking for a way into our children's lives. They educate themselves with what is current in the music and movie industries, and then the majority of them make themselves comfortable in social networking sites, obsessed with finding ways to capture our child's attention.
So many kids have been sent sexual material across the Internet, and have been extremely disturbed by it, yet they don't always mention it to their parents. Children have been threatened and harassed, and they are afraid. Studies among teens have revealed that many of them have considered meeting someone they have only met online, while a small percentage of those have actually had a face-to-face meeting that their parents were not aware of, despite our countless warnings.
We have to let pedophiles know that we will not tolerate their behavior, but how do we do that if our kids are not confiding in us? There are times that we may have to take a more assertive approach, especially if we see any behavioral changes in our children. It can be as simple as moving a child's computer from their room to the family room, to monitoring who they are communicating with, by using programs such as, PC Tattletale or PC Pandora. We have to do whatever it takes to keep our children safe.
Tina Mahan
March 3,2012
Note: For monitoring software such as PC Pandora or PC Tattletale, see my "products" section.
Do you know the warning signs of a child in trouble? You may want to read my newest article at Ezine.
A Parents Guide to Recognizing the Signs of a Child in Trouble.
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