Quote:
Are online predators a real threat to children and teenagers? Patricia Greenfield, a psychology professor at UCLA, has studied chat rooms for teens and reported that she found explicit sexual exchanges, joking about physical violence and assaults, aggression, and disturbing exchange involving racial prejudice. Even as a passive bystander that did not participate in the “chats,” she received several instant messages making sexual advances. Chat rooms that were not monitored were especially worrisome, but even those that were monitored were not always successful at censuring that kind of material. For example, she learned that teens used codes such as “A/S/L” (age, sex, location) to provide information that would not have been allowed. And, although the chat rooms were supposed to be for teens, there was no way to know how young or old any of the participants were.
The common stereotype of the online predator is that of a middle-aged man with no job who lives alone and whose day is consumed with “luring” young children and teenagers through the internet. But how accurate is this stereotype? Studies such as the National Juvenile Online Victimization Study have attempted to answer this question as well as identify other characteristics associated with online predators.
Studies have found that this “typical” stereotype can be misleading and can actually hinder parents from protecting their children from online predators. Only three characteristics have been found to be significantly associated with online predators:
1. Close to 100% are male
2. 91% are white and non-Hispanic
3. 91% hold a full-time job.
Of course, online predators sometimes pretend to be very different from who they are.
What else is keeping parents from protecting their children from online predators? Kids’ use of social networking sites and messaging services makes it easy for perpetrators to recognize potential victims, gather personal information, and make contact.
Source:
Quote:
Parents need to tell children about online predators. Children need to know that there are people online who pretend to be people they are not. There may be adults that lie and pretend that they are the child's age. They will lie and try to get personal information from the child. Online predators are bad and want to hurt or assault the child in some way. Parents should make sure that they tailor their discussion about online predators to the age of their child. By explaining who online predators are, children may decide on their own to be more careful about who they talk to or give information to online.
Source:
Quote:
Online predators come up with very creative ways to entice children to provide them with information. Even if you have blockers on your computer to prevent access to certain sites and information from those sites to your computer, your children are at risk. Many predators pretend to be young children themselves and they talk to children online.
Source:
Quote:
Components include:
* The dangers of the internet
* How internet predators think, operate and obtain identifying information from young people
* How on line predators pretend to be who they are not
* How predators manipulate, abuse and blackmail victims
* Placing personal information on the internet
* Are secure sites secure
* Indicators that a young person may be at risk
* Cyber bullying
* Real case scenarios/recorded offender interviews
* What to do if you suspect an on line predator
* What not to do of you suspect an online predator
* Protective and preventative measures
Source:
Quote:
Online games make it easy for kids to play opponents around the world. But the more popular these games become, the more attractive they are to sexual predators. In fact, in December a man was arrested in California after allegedly molesting a 14-year-old boy he met through Xbox Live.
Online games share many of the weaknesses of social networking Web sites like the social networking site MySpace. These online games provide powerful communication features with nearly complete anonymity. Kids can pretend to be older and predators can pretend to be much younger.
Source: 
