| October 2006
Internet Safety
While computers are the wave of the future and may be a great learning tool, technology can become a challenge to keeping students safe at home and at school. The internet has many dangers lurking that most parents are not aware of. Even if parents are aware of the dangers, no one wants to believe that their child could be in danger.
MySpace is a very popular site among middle school and high school students. Each student has a personal website and places pictures of themselves on the site. They also tell about themselves and their interests. The problem with this is that there are over 50,000 known predators on MySpace looking for vulnerable children.
What makes a child vulnerable?
- Disclosing too much information. Children should never reveal their town, house address, school or telephone number. While the child may think that the person they are talking to is 14 years old, they may actually be 52 with a record of sexual abuse. The typical pedophile molests 200 children before they are caught according to some studies. They learn to talk like the kids talk, put up bogus biographies, and look for an opportunity.
- Being unhappy. A predator is not going to risk getting caught with a confident child that is likely to talk to parents. So, they look for children who complain about how terrible their parents are, brag that they drink, smoke or use drugs. These children have just made themselves vulnerable. The predator knows that the child is likely to agree to a meeting without parents’ knowledge. It is easier to win a child’s trust when there is little to no communication with parents.
What can be done?
- Parents have the right to demand which sites their children are visiting. Visit these sites and see what the children are reading.
- Limit time on the computer.
- Place computer in a central location so parents can walk by and glance at the screen to monitor.
- Children can restrict access to who may visit their site by making the site “private.” A good policy is to only let people on your site that you know personally. That would not include someone from Colorado that you “think” you know on the internet.
- Talk to children about meeting anyone on the internet without parents present. MySpace has been linked to several recent disappearances or rapes of children in motel rooms.
- Parents may place filters on computers and monitor internet activity. Three such programs are www.securitysoft.com, www.bpssoft.com, and www.wiredkids.org.
While MySpace claims to have made their site safer by recently restricting those under the age of 18 from approaching a site of someone 17 or younger, there is no one to monitor if that person claiming to be 17 is really 17.
Another reason for parents to become involved is employment. Students that have provocative websites have lost their jobs for not being appropriate. Safety and reputation are two very good reasons to know where your child is on the internet.
Mrs. Pytel
K-8 Counselor
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