Sexual Predators: Ways They Seek Kids Online

With many parents online shopping it also means more adults with not the same motives will be online also.  Do your kids practice online safety measures?

Children today are growing up with the Internet as a regular part of life, yet the World-Wide-Web was fairly new when their parents were young. Along with all the fun and informative things available to children online, a serious danger also lurks. Internet predators like to use the anonymity of the Internet, and are constantly on the lookout for innocent victims.

It’s important for parents to be aware of the ways sexual predators troll for kids online.

Here are 10 things to watch out for to keep your kids safe on the Internet.

1. Online games – One place Internet predators connect with kids is online games. They will choose games that are popular with the age group they prefer and pose as other kids to foster a friendship with children. Predators will watch for gamer names that indicate the gender, location or other information that is useful to them.
2. Chat rooms – Sexual predators will pose as kids in chat rooms that are popular with children. This is an easy way for them to garner information and target unsuspecting youngsters. Once they gain a child’s trust, they may try setting up a meeting in person.
3. Facebook – Parents need to be very careful about whether or not they allow their children to have their own personal Facebook accounts. This is prime hunting grounds for Internet stalkers who target kids. It’s very easy for them to set up fake Facebook pages and “friend” teens and preteens.
4. Twitter – Social media is a great way for pedophiles to connect with their victims, and Twitter is no exception. Many young people use tweeting as their primary form of communication, and predators know this and go where the kids are.
5. Websites for kids – Parents may think websites like Disney and PBS Kids are safe for their children to frequent, but predators like to frequent them too. What better place is there to find lonely kids who want to chat?
6. Instant messaging – Since emails will linger in an account until they’re deleted, Internet predators prefer to use instant messaging that disappears once the window is closed. This makes it harder for parents to monitor who’s talking to their kids and what they’re saying.
7. MySpace – Some consider MySpace one of the worst sites for online predators who want to connect with children. The online surveys are fun to fill out, but they also provide lots of information that can be used to gain trust with unsuspecting youngsters.
8. Pictures – Parents need to educate their children on how pictures posted online can be used by sexual predators. It helps them to identify kids who fit their personal preferences, and any picture posted online can be used and manipulated by anyone. Child pornographers are constantly monitoring the Internet for potentially suggestive photos of children.
9. Target the vulnerable – Internet predators are constantly on the lookout for vulnerable children that they can exploit. Kids that are lonely, unhappy, who are having difficulty with school, or who have poor relationships with their parents are easy targets. They also like kids who are willing to keep secrets from their parents or other authorities.
10. Use coded language – The shortcut language that kids use for texting makes it harder for parents to readily understand what they’re saying. Just glancing over their child’s shoulder, a text message can look like gobbledygook, so parents need to learn this coded language to help keep their kids safe. You better believe the Internet predators know exactly what texting shortcuts mean and how to use it to gain a child’s trust.

Being aware of the inherit risks that the Internet poses to innocent children is the first step parents who want to keep their children safe need to take. Parents need to educate themselves and their children about the dangers of Internet predators as they teach them how to use the Web.
Establish rules and guidelines for computer and cell phone use, and keep the computer in a common area easily observable by parents and siblings. Use online tools for privacy settings and set up parental alerts. Parental involvement is the key to protecting your children from online sexual predators.

Source: Nanny News Network

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Online Predators: Is Your Tween or Teen Safe?

There’s one thing that all tweens have in common: They try to act like grownups. That means that they want to go to sleepovers, talk to their friends on the phone, and stay out as long as they can get away with. Another way they attempt to mirror adult behavior is to chat with people using social media.

But here’s the problem: The people that your pre-teen son or daughter may be chatting with may not be one of his or her peers at all. It could actually be an adult posing as a kid online. These individuals may be sitting at home, in their cars, or in cubicles alone somewhere. Sadly, some of these grownups are sexual predators.
It’s natural for a parent to want to protect their children from dangers in cyberspace by banning them from using computers or social media. But kids (especially tweens) will probably find a way to engage in that activity anyway. So the best strategy is to teach them about the hazards of the Internet – so they can have the tools to navigate the Web safely.

The first step for parents is to sit down with their tweens and educate them about what can happen if they aren’t careful. Tell the youngsters that they shouldn’t chat with anyone online that they don’t know in real life. That’s because many people pretend to be someone else while in a chat room (even their profile photo may be a fake). To prevent unwanted conversation, teens should only enter chat rooms that are private and populated by their friends and peers – and should always log off before leaving the website.

Furthermore, parents should spell out for their tweens what types of information should remain private. This includes their home address, phone numbers, and social security number. Criminals can use this information against the tweens and their families, so it should never be given out over the Web – especially in a chat room.

It’s also important for parents to train their tween to look for warning signs of inappropriate activity. This includes overly personal or even obscene language, an offer of expensive gifts, or a request to meet in person. It’s not a bad idea to tell the tween to trust his or her gut; if something feels a little off, then it probably isn’t what it appears to be.

Finally, if this inappropriate chatting occurs when the parent is at home, the tween should leave the screen open and go get the parent immediately. Then the parent should contact the police and give them as much information as possible about the suspicious behavior, chat room participant, or messages.
Statistically speaking, the chances of any given child being victimized by a sexual predator are quite low. But online chat rooms are still a common tactic used by these deviants to lure unsuspecting tweens into their clutches. Protecting your tweens against these monsters requires vigilance and education on your part.

Contributor:  Chris Martin is a freelance writer who writes for numerous websites and is also a ghostwriter for several blogs. In addition, he is an accomplished voice actor and an experienced sportscaster. Martin has also worked as a radio DJ, a traffic reporter, and a public address announcer for sporting events.

Clues your teen may be tangling with an 'online predator'

In today's highly digital world there are many more concerns for parents.


Online predators is a major concern for kids and especially teens.

With today's peer pressure and teens wanting to fit in, falling into a trap online is probably easier than most realize.

What should you do if you suspect your teen or child is communicating with a sexual predator online?

• Consider talking openly with your child about your suspicions. Tell them about the dangers of computer-sex offenders.
• Review what is on your child's computer. If you don't know how, ask a friend, coworker, relative, or other knowledgeable person. Pornography or any kind of sexual communication can be a warning sign.
• Use the Caller ID service to determine who is calling your child. Most telephone companies that offer Caller ID also offer a service that allows you to block your number from appearing on someone else's Caller ID. Telephone companies also offer an additional service feature that rejects incoming calls that you block. This rejection feature prevents computer-sex offenders or anyone else from calling your home anonymously.
• Devices can be purchased that show telephone numbers that have been dialed from your home phone. Additionally, the last number called from your home phone can be retrieved provided that the telephone is equipped with a redial feature. You will also need a telephone pager to complete this retrieval.
• This is done using a numeric-display pager and another phone that is on the same line as the first phone with the redial feature. Using the two phones and the pager, a call is placed from the second phone to the pager. When the paging terminal beeps for you to enter a telephone number, you press the redial button on the first (or suspect) phone. The last number called from that phone will then be displayed on the pager.
• Monitor your child's access to all types of live electronic communications (i.e., chat rooms, instant messages, Internet Relay Chat, etc.), and monitor your child's e-mail. Computer-sex offenders almost always meet potential victims via chat rooms. After meeting a child on-line, they will continue to communicate electronically often via e-mail.

Source: FBI Parent's Guide to Internet Safety

In Broward County, Mother's Against Predators (MAP) was formed to help educate and inform parents, teachers and the community about the warning signs of predators as well as tech tips we all can use.

Internet Predators do not discriminate, any child is at risk if not properly taught about how to stay safe in cyberspace.

Be an educated parent, you will have safer teens.

Read more.