The Internet has become the sexual predator’s playground. Teenage internet safety is in the news every day. Pre-teens and teens frequently post information and/or photos of themselves without believing that their online activities are putting them in danger. The "new friend" that they think they're making in a social networking site may very well be a convicted child molester.
Child pornography and exploitation is a 20 billion dollar business, and there is no end in sight. Every day, somewhere, a child is being victimized online. There are as many as 400,000 prostituted children in the U.S, according to Mia Spanganberg’s 2001 report: Prostitution In New York City, An Overview. The unofficial estimate however is 1.5 million American children illegally trafficked each year, according to director, Carol Smolenski, of ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking). The first thing to know is that sexual predators continually troll the Internet looking for child targets. They browse personal profiles that children -- typically 12- to 15-year-olds, post on social networking sites, such as MySpace.com, or instant message services. Perpetrators anonymously lurk in the background of chat rooms. Sometimes they’ll collect information on a particular child before trying to make contact. Other times, if the child’s remarks seem inviting, provocative, or -- if the child seems lonely and looking for friends -- they’ll make an immediate contact.
The easiest targets are those kids who can be conned into keeping secrets. Children should be warned if they meet anyone online who asks them to keep a secret, they should report it to you immediately. Sexual predators search for kids who post personal online profiles and are particularly drawn to those youngsters who submit photographs of themselves, offer a physical description and include their name, age, sex, and location. They look for victims who have regular and private access to a computer and are consistently online for long periods of time.
They like those who have few activities or lack a strong network of friends. They seek out the vulnerable and those who are willing to keep talking. Vulnerability comes in many forms: a child or teen who is sheltered, insecure, unhappy, lonely, or adventurous is a good target. Predators also like those who come from single parent families, are having difficulty in school, with friends, or with the law or are experimenting with drugs, alcohol, or sex.
Today, many young people have their own instant message accounts. This is also attractive to predators. Although some of them use email, they prefer instant messages because once the instant message window is closed the message seems to disappear. Law enforcement estimates that the typical online sexual predator has victimized anywhere from 30 to 150 kids prior to being arrested.
Predators often pose as children or teenagers. The predator uses the relationship to initiate sexual discussion and activity. One of their main activities is coaxing the victim to take provocative or lewd videos or photos of themselves. Sometimes these photos are copied and sold to child pornographers or end up on pedophile websites.
The Internet pornography industry generates $12 billion dollars in annual revenue – larger than the combined annual revenues of ABC, NBC, and CBS, according to Family Safe Media, January 10, 2006.
Law enforcement officials estimate that as many as 50,000 sexual predators are online at any given moment.
(Dateline, January 2006)
Predators need children who will be open to sexual discussions and not terminate the relationship at the first suggestion of sexual activity. They will expose the child to sexual images in an effort to break down their barriers and portray the viewing of sexual photos and deviant sexual activities as “normal” – the desensitization stage.
If the predator has groomed the target well, he or she will put up with this uncomfortable conversation and the viewing of sexual images so as not to lose their new friend. On occasion a child may get frightened and want to end the relationship. The predator may threaten to expose them to parents or friends. The final goal is to lure the child into a secret, face-to-face meeting – sometimes including a plan to run away from home. The predator’s objective is to have sex with his victim, or more tragically, to abduct and engage in sexual slavery and/or murder.
To book Suzanne Stanford to speak on internet safety, email her at: suzanne@myinternetsafetycoach.com
Are We Glorifying Teen Pregnancy?
We heard about Jamie Lynn Spears and gasped in shock, as we bid adieu to "Zoey 101." We saw the headlines for the new NBC reality show "Baby Borrowers" and wondered who the heck would allow a snot nosed teenager to borrow their baby. We caught wind of some odd teen pregnancy pact and rolled our eyes in disgust. Then, we spotted a new show on ABC called "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and asked ourselves, "Secret? What secret?"
I know that this topic is nothing new, but don't you agree that all of this media coverage is just callousing our generation of teens to the the possibility of getting pregnant? Yes, some of the new shows are designed to teach teens of the dangers of unprotected sex, but isn't all of the exposure to teen pregnancy just making it a commonplace societal norm? See Jamie Lynn? Uh....no. Doesn't OK magazine realize what an effing disservice they are doing to the whole teen population by allowing this teenager's "OOOOPSIE" to grace the cover of a magazine, painted as a normal, beautiful new mommy moment? Yes, motherhood is beautiful. Yes, the baby and Ms. Spears are beautiful. Too beautiful. Many teenaged, affection starved, disenchanted girls will look at that picturesque portrayal of premature motherhood and fantasize about it, themselves. I've heard tales of parents who shipped their pregnant daughter off to live with distant relatives, out of the sheer fear that she would be looked upon as a whore. My own mother was livid when she found out that I was pregnant out of wedlock. I was shamed by my traditional Baptist family. Did they encourage me to abort my baby? Did the enable me to continue my life as a carefree teenager, by raising the baby? Heck no! Happy fun time ended when I conceived. Maybe if more parents treated teen pregnancy and premarital sex as the huge mistake it is, there would be less of it. The media might even loosen its capitalistic grip on the issue and stop turning out shows that make it seem like a normal rite of passage and an event worthy of a magazine cover.
Child pornography and exploitation is a 20 billion dollar business, and there is no end in sight. Every day, somewhere, a child is being victimized online. There are as many as 400,000 prostituted children in the U.S, according to Mia Spanganberg’s 2001 report: Prostitution In New York City, An Overview. The unofficial estimate however is 1.5 million American children illegally trafficked each year, according to director, Carol Smolenski, of ECPAT (End Child Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking). The first thing to know is that sexual predators continually troll the Internet looking for child targets. They browse personal profiles that children -- typically 12- to 15-year-olds, post on social networking sites, such as MySpace.com, or instant message services. Perpetrators anonymously lurk in the background of chat rooms. Sometimes they’ll collect information on a particular child before trying to make contact. Other times, if the child’s remarks seem inviting, provocative, or -- if the child seems lonely and looking for friends -- they’ll make an immediate contact.
The easiest targets are those kids who can be conned into keeping secrets. Children should be warned if they meet anyone online who asks them to keep a secret, they should report it to you immediately. Sexual predators search for kids who post personal online profiles and are particularly drawn to those youngsters who submit photographs of themselves, offer a physical description and include their name, age, sex, and location. They look for victims who have regular and private access to a computer and are consistently online for long periods of time.
They like those who have few activities or lack a strong network of friends. They seek out the vulnerable and those who are willing to keep talking. Vulnerability comes in many forms: a child or teen who is sheltered, insecure, unhappy, lonely, or adventurous is a good target. Predators also like those who come from single parent families, are having difficulty in school, with friends, or with the law or are experimenting with drugs, alcohol, or sex.
Today, many young people have their own instant message accounts. This is also attractive to predators. Although some of them use email, they prefer instant messages because once the instant message window is closed the message seems to disappear. Law enforcement estimates that the typical online sexual predator has victimized anywhere from 30 to 150 kids prior to being arrested.
Predators often pose as children or teenagers. The predator uses the relationship to initiate sexual discussion and activity. One of their main activities is coaxing the victim to take provocative or lewd videos or photos of themselves. Sometimes these photos are copied and sold to child pornographers or end up on pedophile websites.
The Internet pornography industry generates $12 billion dollars in annual revenue – larger than the combined annual revenues of ABC, NBC, and CBS, according to Family Safe Media, January 10, 2006.
Law enforcement officials estimate that as many as 50,000 sexual predators are online at any given moment.
(Dateline, January 2006)
Predators need children who will be open to sexual discussions and not terminate the relationship at the first suggestion of sexual activity. They will expose the child to sexual images in an effort to break down their barriers and portray the viewing of sexual photos and deviant sexual activities as “normal” – the desensitization stage.
If the predator has groomed the target well, he or she will put up with this uncomfortable conversation and the viewing of sexual images so as not to lose their new friend. On occasion a child may get frightened and want to end the relationship. The predator may threaten to expose them to parents or friends. The final goal is to lure the child into a secret, face-to-face meeting – sometimes including a plan to run away from home. The predator’s objective is to have sex with his victim, or more tragically, to abduct and engage in sexual slavery and/or murder.
To book Suzanne Stanford to speak on internet safety, email her at: suzanne@myinternetsafetycoach.com
Are We Glorifying Teen Pregnancy?
We heard about Jamie Lynn Spears and gasped in shock, as we bid adieu to "Zoey 101." We saw the headlines for the new NBC reality show "Baby Borrowers" and wondered who the heck would allow a snot nosed teenager to borrow their baby. We caught wind of some odd teen pregnancy pact and rolled our eyes in disgust. Then, we spotted a new show on ABC called "The Secret Life of the American Teenager" and asked ourselves, "Secret? What secret?"
I know that this topic is nothing new, but don't you agree that all of this media coverage is just callousing our generation of teens to the the possibility of getting pregnant? Yes, some of the new shows are designed to teach teens of the dangers of unprotected sex, but isn't all of the exposure to teen pregnancy just making it a commonplace societal norm? See Jamie Lynn? Uh....no. Doesn't OK magazine realize what an effing disservice they are doing to the whole teen population by allowing this teenager's "OOOOPSIE" to grace the cover of a magazine, painted as a normal, beautiful new mommy moment? Yes, motherhood is beautiful. Yes, the baby and Ms. Spears are beautiful. Too beautiful. Many teenaged, affection starved, disenchanted girls will look at that picturesque portrayal of premature motherhood and fantasize about it, themselves. I've heard tales of parents who shipped their pregnant daughter off to live with distant relatives, out of the sheer fear that she would be looked upon as a whore. My own mother was livid when she found out that I was pregnant out of wedlock. I was shamed by my traditional Baptist family. Did they encourage me to abort my baby? Did the enable me to continue my life as a carefree teenager, by raising the baby? Heck no! Happy fun time ended when I conceived. Maybe if more parents treated teen pregnancy and premarital sex as the huge mistake it is, there would be less of it. The media might even loosen its capitalistic grip on the issue and stop turning out shows that make it seem like a normal rite of passage and an event worthy of a magazine cover.
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