Tips for dealing with strangers Danger 2.0
November 14, 2010
Internet
When I was a child Tale warning usually involves crossing the street, stranger danger, and scissors. Modern parents are adding anecdotes about MySpace and social networking sites where strangers transform from abstract figures blur away the hoards of perverts lurking around in your living room.
National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC) uses the recent exodus of some members of the MySpace teens in the West Bank, where he had planned to meet with a man she met on the site, as a talking point underscores the importance of parental controls for Web 2.0.
“The popularity of social networking sites makes children vulnerable in new ways and leave parents wondering what they can do to protect their children,” says Michelle Boykins, Director of Communications for the NCPC. “Parents tend to watch their kids close but relax restrictions as children get older. But parents need to be aware of Internet dangers do not stop when their children turn 13. ‘
A 2002 study from the Girl Scout Research Institute found that children who are not reported to interfere with interactions online. The study found that 30 percent of girls are sexually harassed in a chat room poll, but only 7 percent said their parents.
Another study, conducted recently by the University of Maryland, found that female members of the chat room by using feminine usernames received 25 times more threatening or explicit private messages. Username women received 163 malicious private messages a day on average, compared with four messages per user names men.
It is safe to say that it’s safe for little girls ages than men, although men also hunting predators, and the parents may be very aware of what is happening in their child’s online world. NCPC advice given to both parents and teens to help keep kids from dangers on social networking sites.
Advice for parents:
Parents need to know what their children are doing online. Learn about the most popular websites for young people and visit the site to find out what your kids say or do online.
Set the rules for using the Internet, including what young people can and can not post them online. Sign a contract to underline its importance.
Make sure you know the young people to never give out personal information online, not even a full name or age.
Emphasize to children that although not all of the people they meet online bad, some are looking to prey on others.
Knowing your child’s whereabouts at all times. Teach your child to never meet anyone they have met online without your consent if your child is 7 or 17.
Talk with your child about what they find and learn online. Make sure they know that they can talk to you or another adult if they see or experience something online that makes them feel uncomfortable, no punishment or criticism.
Advice for Teenagers:
If you receive an invitation from someone online, people say you have to ask permission from your parents before meeting them.
Insisting people meet your parents before you go to them. People should not be rejected if they have good intentions.
Never agree to lie to your parents or hide from them what you do online.
Understanding the potential risks in response to a stranger. Ask yourself if you can get a dangerous situation if the person has less than honorable intentions.
Realize “smooth talker”. Many online predators who know how to get you to trust them.
Do not post personal information online. By predators to find the information you share.
Before you post information, ask yourself if you want to be comfortable with a parent or teacher read it.
Parents should also be aware of the so-called “dark sites,” or secret personal page set up by young people in addition to a public profile page that you know and parents about the track. The kids that their profiles are monitored, controlled, restricted, or prohibited their parents are often set up as a dark site where they engage in more risky behaviors such as providing personal information.