I’ve read a few articles recently that imply that the online threat to children has been grossly exaggerated and I’m most surprised and dismayed by this. The impression they’re trying to give is that the Internet is not a particularly more dangerous environment than those normally visited by children in the real world. While this may be a contentious issue there is absolutely no doubt that the Internet is a very dangerous environment for young people. There are a number of factual reports, and I emphasise factual, that outline more exactly the level of the threat. One such report that surveyed more than 2,000 law enforcement agencies came up with some very disturbing figures. Arrests of online predators rose by over 400% between 2000 and 2006. A large number, almost a third, of solicitations occurred on Social Network sites and over 70% of the victims were aged between 13 and 15 years. Over 5% of those victims endured some form of sexual violence!.
These figures just can’t be ignored and represent a very significant threat to our youngsters in society. More disturbingly is that those offenders arrested were very open about their sexual motives. More disturbingly is that there is a generation of parents who are not “Internet Savvy” – they may use email and browse but are not aware of the many sub cultures that exist on the Internet. As part of my Internet Marketing I’m a member of a number of communities that employ “Black Hat” methods to make money. One such term “ewhoring” is applied to people, mainly male, who go to dating sites, normally the more “adult” oriented and set up a profile as a female, complete with pictures. They then engage male members in racy conversation and encourage them to sign up to another site where they can see “adult” pictures of “her” and thereby earn a handsome affiliate commission from some unsuspecting male!. Members boast of earning up to a $1000 a day using this technique. This is adults being caught and easily duped.
What chance have children got??
One online predator went on record as saying that he couldn’t believe that parents don’t monitor their children’s online use and that they’re not aware of passwords that they use. He further admitted that he looked for the child that was online late at night, was more open and vulnerable, and what was so horrific, he said, “There are so many of them”.
As a responsible parent you should be very afraid of the very real threat that these online predators represent. I’ve noticed that it’s considered quite normal for children to have their computers in their bedrooms and are often allowed completely unsupervised access to the Internet. I personally think that this is tantamount to inviting the threat into your household.
Surprisingly, very few parents are aware that there is a number of <strong>Internet Parental Control </strong>programmes available that allow them to be aware of 100% of their children’s online activity, Further, these programmes can restrict sites, programmes and content all based on any criteria chosen. If you have allowed your child to have unrestricted access the to the Web then I cannot urge you strongly enough to immediately investigate the security and peace of mind that these programmes offer. It´s a small cost, not only for your own piece of mind, but that of the safety of your family.
SPECTOR PRO is the worlds best selling PC Monitoring/Blocking software and gives 100% safety for your children whilst surfing and gives YOU Peace of Mind!
Girl reunited with grateful parents who ‘feel blessed’
Sunday, January 06, 2002
By Eleanor Chute, Post-Gazette Staff Writer
Charles Kozakiewicz doesn’t have any words to describe how he felt yesterday when he and his wife were reunited with their 13-year-old daughter after she’d been ensnared by a stranger on the Internet.
Mary Kozakiewicz, with her husband Charles, reacts to the return of their daughter, Alicia. The threesome met informally with reporters on the sidewalk near their Crafton Heights home yesterday afternoon, with Alicia sporting an new “FBI” baseball cap. (Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette)
“You get a connection just by eye contact. You can’t explain it, and you don’t say words,” Kozakiewicz said yesterday.
The Crafton Heights teen-ager, Alicia Kozakiewicz, disappeared on New Year’s Day without taking her coat or money. From the beginning, Alicia’s family worried that the teen, who wants to be a model, may have run off with someone she met while chatting on the Internet.
Authorities tracked her to a townhouse in suburban Washington, D.C., where they found her physically restrained in a bedroom Friday. FBI agents then quickly arrested Scott W. Tyree, 38, of Herndon, Va., a computer programmer who had bragged to an Internet acquaintance in Florida that he had picked up a girl in Pittsburgh and sent him a photo.
Yesterday morning, FBI officials flew Alicia’s parents to Virginia, where they met with Alicia and then flew home with her.
“We had one of the happiest moments of our lives,” Charles Kozakiewicz said.
“We just feel blessed,” said her mother, Mary.
The threesome met informally with reporters on the sidewalk near their home yesterday afternoon, with Alicia sporting a new baseball cap decorated with the letters “FBI.”
None of them discussed the particulars of the case, but the parents expressed their thanks for those who had helped to find their child, the granddaughter of the former Allegheny County Jail warden also named Charles Kozakiewicz.
Alicia’s father said the experience has made him more acutely realize the treasures of family life.
“Life’s going to change a little,” he said.
“Our prayers have been answered … I’m just glad it’s not the bad news story.”
“It’s a lesson for everybody,” Mary Kozakiewicz added. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s a really great kid or not. You can’t trust the Internet.”
Charles Kozakiewicz said his daughter is “pretty computer literate” and that he isn’t “quite as good. I will be in the future.”
In the morning yesterday before Alicia and her parents returned home, neighbors MaryAnn Macino, Dave Landi and his daughter, Paige, 8, were out decorating the trees around the Kozakiewicz home with wide yellow ribbons.
They were among the friends and neighbors who had helped to make copies of pictures and spread the word about the missing girl.
U.S. Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan said the case couldn’t have been solved as quickly without the help of the Western Pennsylvania Crimes Against Children Task Force, formed a few years ago.
One impetus for its formation was the increase in Internet-related crimes of luring children across state lines or trading in child pornography. She said the task force helped to bring together officials from various jurisdictions as well as the skills of agents who had expertise in computers.
Buchanan estimated that there are at least a half dozen federal criminal cases each year in Western Pennsylvania involving a child communicating on-line with an adult. She estimated there is at least one case a year in Western Pennsylvania in which a child has traveled as a result of the communication.
“We have been very fortunate in Western Pennsylvania that we have not had a case involving interstate luring of a child to have ended up in the child’s death.” she said.
She said young teen-agers are probably the most vulnerable group.
“I think probably one of the reasons is that in the early teen years, that’s when children are discovering the Internet, and they are using the computer and they are able to communicate with the adults,” she said. “Much of this communication is done through the instant messaging, and your younger children are not going to be able to do that to the same degree that children in the early teens are.”
Instant messaging is a service in which two people can answer and receive messages quickly over the Internet. Buchanan said the teens sometimes meet a predator in chat rooms on the Internet and then continue the contact through instant messaging.
How can parents protect their children on the Internet?
“The only way you can really monitor your children is to keep the computer in an area where you can see what they’re doing and talk to your children about the dangers of the Internet and constantly remind them the people they are talking to on the Internet may not always be who they claim to be,” Buchanan said.
She said that children need to know not to give personal information — such as their address, phone number and last name — to strangers.
Tim Huff, special agent for the FBI, said, “The best thing a parent can do is talk to their kids. If the kids don’t trust them enough to tell them what they’re doing, then all the magic in the world you’re going to do on your computer isn’t going to help you.”
He also recommended putting the computer in the living room instead of the child’s room “where they can close the door and talk to whomever they want.”
He said parents also can check the history of pages visited on the Internet and install some filtering or recording software. But some of that is limited because users can outwit it.
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