Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Internet Safety Tips (Part 1)

In December, Sergeant George Lichman of the Rocky River Police Department spoke at the PTA meeting.  He's a member of the Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force and gave many good tips worthy of a re-share here.  The presentation lasted for about an hour and was content rich, so the tips will be shared in several posts.

Online chatrooms are the most dangerous place of children to go on the internet.  They have the highest likelihood of being propositioned by a child predator at those kinds of sites.

According to a joint study by the US Department of Justice, OJJDP and the University of New Hampshire conducted in 1999, 71% of kids polled responded that they've received and email or Instant Message form a stranger.  40% replied to that unknown person and only 18% said they's tell an adult about the contact.  More shockingly, 34% of teens reported seeing unwanted sexual images or materials despite increased use of filtering software by parents (55% in 2006 vs. 33% in 1999).   And only 5% of teens reported the sexual solicitation or unwanted exposure.  Why?  They were afraid of losing internet access.  An easy way to ensure your child is in that 5% is to set up rules and expectations where as long as your child follows the rules (stay away from certain sites, report contact from strangers, etc.), they won't lose access. 

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