![]() ![]() Legislation currently under way to stop online predators includes Senate Bill 1633, also known as “Stop the Online Predators Act” which would give federal officers permission to pose as minors online. Online sexual victimization of children and teenagers is a very real issue. So, what can parents do? Talk with your children about the issue and discuss appropriate and responsible use of the Internet. 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. Of course, online predators sometimes pretend to be very different from who they are. ![]() Only three characteristics have been found to be significantly 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Even as a passive bystander that did not participate in the “chats,” she received several instant messages making sexual advances. 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. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |