Beyond MySpace: Avoiding the Danger of Online Predators


by Eva Gibson - Date: 2006-11-30 - Word Count: 1117 Share This!

Though there are plenty of technical reasons to beware of certain aspects of the internet, it is important to place the dangers of viruses and spyware second to a much larger issue. The threat of people who target computers, while real and to be avoided, pales in comparison to a simpler, much more dangerous online threat: the threat of people who use the internet to target other people.

According to "Online Victimization: A Report on the Nation's Youth," a report issued by the Crimes Against Children Research Center in conjunction with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, one in five children ("child" being defined as a person age 10 to 17 years old) who use the internet are sexually solicited online, but only about one quarter of those solicited reported the incident to a parent or guardian. However, it is important to look carefully at those numbers to determine how many of those approached were approached by true predators and which percentage were approached by older or known classmates who were not only considered non-threatening but whose approaches were, in some cases, welcome.

The results of the report detail a much more complex set of numbers than a simple "one in five" answer. For instance, 76% of the unwanted solicitations reported in the study came from members of the child's peer group. The solicitations reported include everything from unwanted date requests to sexual harassment or sexual-based teasing. Additionally, 96% of solicitations to youth under 17, both welcome and unwelcome, were made by people ages 18 to 25, with only four percent being older then 25. The assumed black-and-white nature of online solicitation further grays when taking into account the ages of those involved; an 18-year-old flirting with his 17-year-old classmate, for instance, is considered to be much less of a threat, if indeed it is considered a threat at all, than a 25-year-old propositioning a 10-year-old. Due to the sheer nature of age difference and societal taboos, it can safely be assumed that the hypothetical 10-year-old in this example is in much greater danger of being exploited. Nonetheless, both of these instances are given equal statistical weight when each are counted as an instance of online sexual solicitation under the umbrella of the report's final one in five number.

With the growing popularity of social websites such as MySpace.com, it is becoming easier for sexual predators and pedophiles to make contact with potential victims. A common tactic used by predators is to converse with potential victims and gain their trust by posing as someone younger. The online rapport that develops can lead to exchange of personal information, such as last names, addresses, phones numbers, and other details, as well as arrangements to meet in person. While it is true that not all solicitations reported in the study, whether welcome or unwelcome, had made a distressing impression on the recipient, five percent of users reported a solicitation they found greatly disturbing, and 37 percent of these incidents were reported by children ages 10 to 13, who made up 22 percent of the youth targeted. Additionally, three percent of the users surveyed reported that their solicitor had attempted to make contact with them in person, over the phone, or by postal mail.

Not surprisingly, girls were targeted at almost twice the rate of boys (66% versus 34%). Two-thirds of the solicitors were male, and 77 percent of those targeted were age 14 or older. Since MySpace.com places age restrictions on users, a person must claim to be over age 14 to register a MySpace profile, and even then profiles belonging to users under age 16 are automatically restricted to friends only. This serves to offer some protection for underage users, but since MySpace relies on the honor system and doesn't have any real way to verify a user's true age, younger children have the opportunity to create a profile by claiming to be older.

According to the report, 70 percent of those surveyed claimed to be at home when they received an unwanted solicitation. And where, one may wonder, were the parents while all of this was going on? 49 percent of users surveyed didn't report the solicitations they received to anyone, including their parents, and there are several possible reasons for their silence. One reason, some speculate, is that the children were afraid of disciplinary action, or they had received the solicitation on a site from which they may have been restricted or were embarrassed to admit to frequenting. Still others may have not reported the incident because they ignored it at the time, it did not upset them, or they just did not consider it a big deal. In any case, it is widely agreed upon that parents need to take a proactive role in educating themselves and their children about the dangers of online predators and the steps to take to avoid and report such incidents.

Besides setting rules and limitations on internet use for children, parents are encouraged to supervise their child's internet use either manually or with a software application that tracks browsing habits and blocks websites. It is also recommended that parents have open and frank discussions with their children, letting them know what kind of online behavior is unacceptable or unsafe. Giving out or posting personal information online or visiting adult websites or chat rooms can put a child at a much higher risk of being targeted by a predator, and parents need to make sure that this is understood by everyone in the home who uses the internet. Most importantly, parents are encouraged to make themselves available unconditionally as a source of help to a child being solicited online, regardless of any rules broken.

Along with the natural instinct of parents and society to protect children often comes a certain level of hysteria when it comes to potential threats. This often leads to the propensity of some media outlets to publish base statistics and panicky headlines, which serves to get the public worked up but often does very little to educate people about the actual dangers of online predators. Though there are many dangers lurking online, parents can work to educate their families about these dangers and how to spot them. Generations have been taught to avoid strangers on the street, and the more people realize the ways in which the internet can be used for predatory means, the better chance they have of blocking the same type of strangers from virtually turning their internet connection into an open door to their homes.

For more information about NCMEC, call 1-800-THE-LOST or visit www.missingkids.com. To view "Online Victimization: A Report on the Nation's Youth" in its entirety, visit http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/jvq/CV38.pdf.


Related Tags: internet, myspace, myspace.com, predator, pedophile, sexual solicitation, danger, threat, online predator

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