A Parents Guide to Internet Safety

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A Parents Guide to Internet Safety
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Yesterday vs Today

• Radios
• 45 Records
• Telephones
• Postal mail
• Go to store
• Pong
• Go to mall

• iPods
• iTunes downloads - .99
• Cell Phones
• Email
• Amazon, SimonDelivers, ebay
• Halo, World of Warcraft
• MySpace, chat rooms, Instant Messaging, blogs

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• The Internet is like a knife. It can be very
  useful, but it can also cut you if youre not
  careful
• Julie, 15 yrs old

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Teen Internet use

• 87 of U.S. teens
• ages 12-17 currently
• use the internet
• (approximately
• 21 million teens).
• Approximately 11
• million teens go
• online daily

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How big of a problem is child sexual exploitation?

• Answer Statistics show that 1 in 5 girls and 1
  in 10 boys are sexually exploited by the time
  they reach the age of 14.
• Less than 35 of those child sexual assaults are
  reported to authorities.

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Teen Girls Are Most At Risk

• Teen girls are
• the most frequent
• victims of sexual
• assault
• 30 of teen girls
• polled said theyd
• been sexually harassed
• in a chat room
• Only 7 told their parents

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• 77 of sexual solicitations of children online
  occur in chat rooms or by instant messages

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Most Encounters go Unreported

• Only 1 of online sexual solicitations are
  reported to police
• Only 12 of sexual solicitations reported to
  parents

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Social Networking sites

• MySpace
• Facebook
• Xanga
• YouTube
• Blogger
• Friendster
• TagWorld

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Its all about me!

• 61 of 13 to 17 year olds have a personal profile
  on sites such as MySpace, Freindster, or Xanga
• (NCMEC, May 2006)

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• If youre not on MySpace you dont exist
  Ellie, 14 yrs old
• MySpace finds 29,000 sex offenders
• Associated Press, 24 July 2007

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Whos on MySpace?
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• Must be at least 14 yrs old
• People collect friends
• Total anonymity- users can set up a false
  identity and name
• Many cases under investigation that started with
  MySpace - sex crimes, child abuse
• Breeding ground for predators

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Suggestions for Parents

• Take the time to see what your kids are doing on
  line and their interests
• Let them teach you about the internet
• Surf sites with them
• Help them assess the value and importance of the
  site

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Tips for safe internet use

• Talk to your kids
• Go over the rules of safe surfing
• Establish clear ground rules
• Post safety rules by the computer
• Go to Safekids.com for a safety contract.

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The computer is public

• Place your computer in the family room or another
  public area of your home
• If a computer is in an open area teens average 47
  minutes a day
• If a computer is in a bedroom teens average 90
  minutes a day
• Walk by computer from time to time and observe
  what is on the screen

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Websites

• National Institute on Media and the Family - Dr.
  David Walsh
• http//www.mediafamily.org/
• Internet Safety Education for Parents, Educators,
  Kids and Teens
• http//www.isafe.org/
• Online Safety Kit - tips for parents and kids
• http//msnbc.msn.com/id/11030746
• Net Nanny http//www.netnanny.com/

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Thank You

• Presented by Thanh Nguyen
• Sponsored by SFCP and PTO