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11/03/07   |   By

Child Safety on the Internet | DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog

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The Internet is a valuable tool for research, learning and communication, but it can pose a number of threats to children — particularly those who lack appropriate adult supervision.  The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has compiled the following tips and information related to online safety for children, including these signs that your child may be at-risk online:

  1. 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. 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.

  2. You find pornography on your child’s computer.

    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.

  3. 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 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.
  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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.

  7. 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.”

The agency advises that there are a number of things parents and other adults can do to ensure that children are not victimized via the Internet, including the following:

  • “Communicate, and talk to your child about sexual victimization and potential on-line danger.
  • Spend time with your children on-line. Have them teach you about their favorite on-line destinations.
  • Keep the computer in a common room in the house, not in your child’s bedroom. It is much more difficult for a computer-sex offender to communicate with a child when the computer screen is visible to a parent or another member of the household.
  • Utilize parental controls provided by your service provider and/or blocking software. While electronic chat can be a great place for children to make new friends and discuss various topics of interest, it is also prowled by computer-sex offenders. Use of chat rooms, in particular, should be heavily monitored. While parents should utilize these mechanisms, they should not totally rely on them.
  • Always maintain access to your child’s on-line account and randomly check his/her e-mail. Be aware that your child could be contacted through the U.S. Mail. Be up front with your child about your access and reasons why.
  • Teach your child the responsible use of the resources on-line. There is much more to the on-line experience than chat rooms.
  • Find out what computer safeguards are utilized by your child’s school, the public library, and at the homes of your child’s friends. These are all places, outside your normal supervision, where your child could encounter an on-line predator.
  • Understand, even if your child was a willing participant in any form of sexual exploitation, that he/she is not at fault and is the victim. The offender always bears the complete responsibility for his or her actions.”

Previously on the DC Metro Area Personal Injury Law Blog, we have posted articles related to:

  • Helpful tips for communicating with teens about alcohol
  • New research and tips for addressing bullying in school
  • Safety tips for kids who walk to school

For information about your legal rights, please click here or call the law firm of Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC at (202) 463-3030.

Regan Zambri Long
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