Online Sexual Predators
Instant messaging on the computer has become the phone for kids today. Children spend hours chatting online with their friends, and sometimes with strangers. A recent study found that one in five children online is approached by a sexual predator, a predator who may try to set up a face-to-face meeting.
Predators have turned to the Internet to find their victims. Lurking in chat rooms, and engaging in on-line conversations, Internet predators have the ability to disguise their identities. A 35-year-old man may be posing as a 12-year-old girl, or a single mother in a chat room may actually be a married male.
Predators are very good at extracting information. Many people, adult and children
...you may have been trying to navigate through. Your doctor may recommend a mood-stabilizing drug, along with an antidepressant. At times, antipsychotic medications may be administered. Newer drugs such as risperidone, olanzapine, and quetiapine have been shown to be effective ...
Predators form relationships with their victims. In some cases spanning several months. By the time the predator suggests meeting, the unsuspecting and trusting victim agrees to meet, sometimes never to be seen again.
Even random conversations can get a child into trouble without knowing it. An online conversation may go something like this:
Poohbear105: We won our softball game today!
Dillan955: Congrats! What team do you play for?
Poohbear105: I play for the Jonestown Wildcats.
Dillan955: Cool, my team is Centerville Sluggers I play 2nd base
Poohbear105: I play 3rd base
Dillan955: We haven’t started playing yet it is too cold here in northeast PA
Poohbear105: I hate the cold
...me and so nothing my parents or friends said could be convincing to me. God had grace on me though,as he allowed the Jesus voice on two occasions six years apart say something that turned out to be a lie. ...
Dillan955: I can’t wait for Tuesday it is our first game
Poohbear105: Cool! I have a game on Tuesday too
Poohbear doesn’t realize it but she just told Dillan what town she lives in and where she will be next Tuesday. She also told him what team she plays for and what position. It is fairly simple to find out the game schedule. Poohbear could have a visitor at her next game.
Most children know more about the Internet than their parents do. This knowledge gap keeps parents in the dark about their kids online activities. As shown in the statistics below, parental supervision in cyberspace is dangerously lax:
...the commonly used mood stabilizers. The majority of mood stabilizers are anticonvulsants, with the exclusion of lithium. Mood stabilizers are sometimes used in combination with one another. Bipolar disorder is also treated with antidepressant medications. However, they carry a high ...
Only 52% of parents moderately supervise their children s Internet use.
An estimated 62% of teens report that their parents know little or nothing about their Web activities.
71% of all parents stop monitoring their child s use of the Internet after the child turns 14, not knowing that 72% of all Internet-related missing children are 15 years of age or older.
Internet predators take advantage of the lack of responsible adult supervision of children using the Internet.
Your child may be in contact with an Internet predator if he or she displays any of the following warning signs:
...irritability, and/or reckless behavior. These manic episodes are frequently very hard on the person and their relationships. A person in a manic phase of bipolar disorder will have symptoms of high energy and accelerated states. Manic episodes appear in stark ...
Downloads pornographic images
Is very secretive about online activities and the people he or she talks to
Quickly turns off the computer or changes software applications when someone enters the room
Receives unusual phone calls or gifts or letters in the mail
Spends countless hours on the computer and his or her school grades have dropped
Spends unsupervised time in chat rooms
Uses online accounts that you do not recognize or uses multiple e-mail addresses
Visits Web sites dealing with death, destruction, or other morbid topics
Waits until other family members are asleep or out of
...or more, a doctor may come to the conclusion that he or she has the disorder. Most of the common symptoms show up around seven years of age. However, they can also manifest much earlier. Remember that these signs must ...
The key is to monitor your child s Internet activity. Make sure you and your child know what to watch out for on the Web. Remember, because of the anonymity offered by the Internet, people you meet online may not be who they claim to be. Encourage your children never to share personal information about themselves on the Internet.
Parents can protect their kids by doing the following:
Become familiar with the Web browser your children use, and restrict the type of content (violence, sex, and language) that can be viewed.
Create a password that will allow only you to control the computer s Internet settings, online content, and software that
...to you having a demon pretend to be the Holy Spirit and tell you lies and direct you to do things that you assume are God telling you to do. I suggest every person who knows a person gifted in ...
Do not allow your child to have multiple e-mail accounts or create accounts without your knowledge. You may insist that your children give you their e-mail and chat room passwords. Internet accounts and primary screen names should be in your name.
Do not allow your children to chat (send Instant Messages) during homework-related computer time.
Emphasize that dangerous pedophiles use the anonymity offered by the Web to lure their victims.
Encourage your children to create screen names and e-mails that do not reveal their personal information (name, age, school, etc.).
Establish some Rules for Safe Web Surfers. Review the rules with your child, and post them next
...be quizzed on your moods, your eating and sleeping habits, whether or not you feel restless or completely exhausted, your speech patterns, any unusual anger problems you or your family and friends may have noticed, or if you have ever ...
Go online with your kids and find out who they send Instant Messages to and/or chat with. Prohibit the use of private chat rooms as well as adult-oriented rooms.
If you are unable to establish yourself as your computer s administrator, then someone else has been designated as the administrator. If the administrator is your child, you can regain control of your computer through your child s user ID and password. Once you become the new administrator, you can control the Internet content and Web sites your child has access to.
Install an operating system that makes you the administrator (e.g., Windows XP or Mac OS X).
Keep the
...include the following: * Self-esteem is high and the patient possesses a great deal of confidence. * Ambitious attitude is apparent in this state. * There is the feeling of sleeplessness. * The patient tends to talk excessively. * The ...
Make sure you know the identity of everyone on their contact and/or buddy lists.
Make sure your child knows never to divulge personal information on the Internet (e.g., name, age, photos, gender, physical description, telephone number, address, etc.).
Set rules as to what sites your children are allowed to visit and which ones they are not. Enforce these rules, and set time limits on their computer use.
Stress that the rules you set are to protect them, not to control them.
Tell your children that you have the right to monitor their computer use and that if
...sense to inventing a disease that the medical community can not profit from? What if all they are seeing is prescription drugs side effects. Seroquel anger is a serious side effect of patients taking antipsychotic medications. Elderly patients who are ...
Mark Huttenlocker, M.A., is a family therapist who works with teens and pre-teens experiencing emotional/behavioral problems associated with ADHD, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Conduct Disorder, Bipolar Disorder, Autism, etc. He works with these children and their parents in their homes. He provides FREE online parent-coaching here: http://www.MyOutOfControlTeen.com/support