Cactus Village Community

Sexual Predators on The Internet . . . By CAO Linda Johnston

Jul 17, 2003

Do you have a computer in your home with Internet access? Do you have young children at home who spend long hours online, especially in ?‘chat rooms?’? Do you know what their conservations are about? As parents, you should.

While the Internet has opened doors to volumes of information for users, it is also quickly becoming the shopping center for ?‘Pedophiles?’. By chatting with your children in chat rooms, these sexual predators get to know their victim. They will send money, presents and even sexually explicit invitations to lure the child to them.

You can protect your children from these people by monitoring what your children are doing on the computer during the evening hours, which is the time they are at the greatest risk. Look for signs of Potential Problems such as:

?• Finding pornography on your child?’s computer.
?• Your child receives mail or gifts from people you don?’t know.
?• Your child turns the monitor off quickly or changes the screen if you enter the room.
?• Your child withdraws from the family.
?• Your child is using an online account that belongs to someone else.

Here are some Prevention Tips to keep your child safe:

?• Put the online computer in a family area where you can monitor the child?’s activities.
?• Become computer literate. Get to know the computer services your child uses.
?• Know your child?’s password and sign on periodically using your child?’s screen name.
?• Make sure that your child uses a screen name that doesn?’t reflect their gender or age.
In order to protect our children from people who want to make them victims, parents need to be aware of what their children are doing and who they are with. If you suspect someone is attempting to prey on your child through the computer, contact your Police Department, they are waiting to help. . . ☺