The average teenager is online an average of 5.5 hours a day.
Being online is not just surfing the web going into different web sites. Most
children and teens are drawn to chat rooms, instant messaging and email.
According to the FBI, there is a "100 percent chance" kids will encounter a
sexual predator in one of the 40,000-plus chat rooms that criminals visit.
Chat rooms are the new "party lines" of the past. Remember coming home from school and calling your friends to discuss the day? Well, now kids are getting online, chatting about their day with strangers from all over the country, all over the world. Usually they are offering bits and pieces of personal information, which is being collected by a predator who is carefully, over time, building a 'file' on a completely innocent, non-suspecting child. In fact, 75 percent of children and teens report sharing personal information about them and their families to complete strangers in chat rooms.
The FBI has reported that 20 percent of solved child-abduction cases were Internet related. (Please keep in mind; this number is based only on solved cases.) Statistics show 2 out of 5 missing teenagers in the US, aged 15 - 17 are missing due to Internet activity. Again, as law enforcement catches up with technology, this statistic can only be based upon those cases that have been solved.
It's all terribly frightening. What can we, as parents and communities do?
The Internet is the most technologically advanced research/information/business vehicle ever known to man. We can't ignore it, we can't keep our children away from it. So, what do we do? There is only one answer: EDUCATION
Understanding how the Internet works, what websites kids are visiting, and how pedophiles exploit children online will help parents and communities in their efforts.
Here you can learn how to educate yourself and protect children and teens from online sexual predators.
More Information
►What does the Pedophile want?
►How can a Pedophile find my child?
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