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Parent's Guide to Internet Safety
What
Are Signs That Your Child Might Be At Risk On-line?
Your
child spends large amounts of time on-line, especially at night.
Most
children that fall victim to computer-sex offenders spend large
amounts of time on-line, particularly in chat rooms. They may go
on-line after dinner and on the weekends. They may be latchkey kids
whose parents have told them to stay at home after school. They go
on-line to chat with friends, make new friends, pass time, and
sometimes look for sexually explicit information. While much of the
knowledge and experience gained may be valuable, parents should
consider monitoring the amount of time spent on-line.
Children
on-line are at the greatest risk during the evening hours. While
offenders are on-line around the clock, most work during the day and
spend their evenings on-line trying to locate and lure children or
seeking pornography.
You
find pornography on your child's computer.
Pornography
is often used in the sexual victimization of children. Sex offenders
often supply their potential victims with pornography as a means of
opening sexual discussions and for seduction. Child pornography may
be used to show the child victim that sex between children and
adults is "normal." Parents should be conscious of the
fact that a child may hide the pornographic files on diskettes from
them. This may be especially true if the computer is used by other
family members.
Your
child receives phone calls from men you don't know or is making
calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don't recognize.
While
talking to a child victim on-line is a thrill for a computer-sex
offender, it can be very cumbersome. Most want to talk to the
children on the telephone. They often engage in "phone
sex" with the children and often seek to set up an actual
meeting for real sex.
While
a child may be hesitant to give out his/her home phone number, the
computer-sex offenders will give out theirs. With Caller ID, they
can readily find out the child's phone number. Some computer-sex
offenders have even obtained toll-free 800 numbers, so that their
potential victims can call them without their parents finding out.
Others will tell the child to call collect. Both of these methods
result in the computer-sex offender being able to find out the
child's phone number.
Your
child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don't know.
As
part of the seduction process, it is common for offenders to send
letters, photographs, and all manner of gifts to their potential
victims. Computer-sex offenders have even sent plane tickets in
order for the child to travel across the country to meet them.
Your
child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen
on the monitor when you come into the room.
A
child looking at pornographic images or having sexually explicit
conversations does not want you to see it on the screen.
Your
child becomes withdrawn from the family.
Computer-sex
offenders will work very hard at driving a wedge between a child and
their family or at exploiting their relationship. They will
accentuate any minor problems at home that the child might have.
Children may also become withdrawn after sexual victimization.
Your
child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else.
Even
if you don't subscribe to an on-line service or Internet service,
your child may meet an offender while on-line at a friend's house or
the library. Most computers come preloaded with on-line and/or
Internet software. Computer-sex offenders will sometimes provide
potential victims with a computer account for communications with
them.
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