How to Protect Your Children on the Internet
Some Recent and Interesting News Items
- (July 25, 2010) - The Washington Post - Front Page Story. According to Federalsburg, Maryland police, Kevin Ricks,
a gregarious English teacher at Osbourn High School, preyed on teenager boys and maintained a journal that contained decades of dark secrets that
included obssession, pursuit, sexual abuse and child exploitation. He also had a library of homemade videos containing
unlawful acts with alcohol intoxicated teenage boys he pursued. Ricks was indicted on several charges related to 30 years of child molestation on June 7th, 2010.
Amy Ashworth, a Prince William county attorney who handles crimes against children, said of Mr. Ricks - "he's a predator: predators
are masters of manipulation. These people tend to be likable. Parents need to be suspicious of anyone who shows an interest in their children." Predators often
use technologies to communicate with their prey/victims that parents are less familiar with such as social networking, instant messaging, and video/text chat.
Interestingly enough, Facebook was Kevin Rick's undoing. Ricks had apparently had an exchange of explicit messages to another teenager at Osbourn high school. Concerned
parents who stumbled onto the messages contacted police. A search of Rick's home provided police with what they needed to charge Ricks with several crimes.
My book recommends the use of both content filters and stealth technology, which allows parents to see everything that is taking place while their children are online.
In this case, stealth technology may tipped off concerned parents before a crime took place. -gss
- (July 20, 2010) - According to USA Today, students are getting suspended for using social networking
sites like Facebook to complain about their teachers. One student, Katie Evans, a senior from Pembroke Pines Florida,
was suspended after complaining that her teacher was "the worst teacher I've ever met." Not are social networking sites risky for
teens regarding inappropriate content, but they pose a risk with penalties for personal comments posted.
While the First Amendment protects freedom of speach, there are limits when criticizing teachers by teenagers, and yes -
employers by adults. Some advice - if you think that what you say will get you in trouble (suspended or
fired), don't put it in writing and certainly don't post it on a social networking site. That's it - plain and simple. -gss
- (December 29, 2009) - According to CNN, a Pew Research Internet and American Life project
survey of 800 people, "nearly one-sixth of teens who own cell phones have received nude or nearly nude images via text
messages from someone they know." This is both interesting and disturbing. The fact that teenagers
feel compelled to send messages and let alone pictures to their friends that put them in compromising
positions defies logic. That said - this is exactly why I wrote my book - parents need to know that teenagers
do not make good decisons all the time. This is due primarily to the fact that their brains are not fully developed.
That said - parents and care givers need to provide both guidance and use technology (content filters)
to help teens make smart decisions. In an Internet-enabled world, mistakes are easily exposed and
rarely forgotten... -gss
- (December 24, 2009) - According to The Wall Street Journal the Apple iTouch is the device
for teens. After much analysis and testing, I must agree - but with a caveat - you MUST turn on
parental controls! Without it, you're unleashing your kids on the Internet without any filters.
That said, I've found that the Apple iTouch parental controls work just fine and 3rd party tools are not
necessary. Don't spend the money. I recommend turning off the Safari browser for middle-school and below kids,
limiting the types of movies they can download (Ex: PG-13 and below) and putting an administrative password that
controls the device. Without it, you're rolling the dice... -gss
- (January 16, 2009) - According to The Washington Post prosecutors in Racine Wisconsin charged
Mayor Gary Becker with child-sex felonies after he alegedly went to a mall to meet a 14-year-old girl who
he had been chatting with online. Unfortunately, the girl was a state agent posing as a teenager. Investigators
also found 1,800 records of sexually explicit conversations on his computer. This story just highlights what I've
stated in my book - you simply can't trust anyone online. Parents need to monitor what their kids do online and
who they're talking to in order to protect them from predators, who can come from any background and professional
career. That's pretty scary stuff. -gss
- (November 9, 2008) - According to The Daily Princetonian and a survey conducted
by Kaplan Test, about 15 percent of law school admissions and 10 percent of undergrad admissions officers
admit to using social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace to evaluate prospective students for admission.
"52 percent of the admissions officers who responded that they had visited personal
networking sites reported that their visit had a negative impact on the applicant's chances."
- (November 1, 2008) - Micrsoft Vista Parental Controls greatly improve what parents can see and how they
can control their children's online experience. One nice feature is the ability to block all downloads, greatly
improving the protection of your computer and reducing the ability to install new software. Unfortunately, kids that are smarter than their parents
are using the tools to "surf without a trace" or logging. The battle for using the right tools for good continue...
- (November 19, 2007) - According to CBS News, more and more parents are having to spy on their
children to see exactly what their kids are doing online. Right or wrong?
- (November 6, 2007) - According to CBS News, an employee of the National Children's Museum
in Washington DC was arrested on child pornography charges. Robert Singer, 49 of Falls Church, Virginia,
was accused of using his work computer at the museum to send explict pornographic photos of sex
between minors and adults to others - including an undercover NY City police detective.
- (August 22, 2007) - According to the Washington Post, MySpace acknowledged that it had detected 29,000
registered sex offenders on its site. These were only those who signed up using their
real names. Facebook also found some offenders and removed their access, but
didn't report any numbers.
- (August 22, 2007) - Predators often use other names and profile pictures to pose as younger
people on social networking sites. In July of 2007, a Connecticut man named David Leonard, was convicted
and sentenced to 20 years in prison for having sexual contact with underage girls
he met on MySpace.com (Washington Post).
- (August 24, 2007) - The Scripts Howard News Service reports federal investigators have not been able to
get sufficient evidence to prove ex-Congressman Mark Foley intended to "seduce,
solicit, lure, entice, or attempt to seduce a child," with his inappropriate contacts.
Foley resigned from the U.S. Congress after ABC News reported that he sent inappropriate
e-mails and instant messages to underage House of Representative pages.
The Internet has transformed the way people research, shop, conduct business, and
communicate. But the Internet and technologies that enable online interaction and access to a
variety of content can be a perilous place for minors 8 to 18. The dangers are real, and parents
and teachers today are confronted with many threats they simply do not understand. This book
shares the risks of the Internet by detailing recent, real-world tragedies and revealing some of
the secrets of online activities.
It provides a pragmatic approach to help parents and teachers
protect children against the threats of going online. Parents and teachers are often ill-equipped
to deal with the variety of devices and applications such as email, instant messaging, browsing,
blogs, cell phones, and personal digital assistant devices (PDAs) that can facilitate the dangers
lurking online. How to Protect Your Children on the Internet offers a comprehensive overview of
the ways in which youth use such technologies and exposes the risks they represent. At the same
time, it provides a roadmap that will enable parents and teachers to become more engaged in
children's online activities, arming them with techniques and tips to help protect their children.
Smith underscores his arguments through chilling, real-life stories, revealing approaches people
are using to deceive and to conceal their activities online. Filled with practical advice and
recommendations, this book is indispensable to anyone who uses the Internet and related
technologies, and especially to those charged with keeping children safe.
How to Protect Your Children on the Internet provides clear recommendations by technology
categories (IM, surfing, search engine use, cell phones, social networking, etc.) by age category
(elementary, middle, and high school) to cut to the chase and give parents back the control to monitor
and protect their children. Smith offers advice on which tools to use, which include content filtering
and stealth monitoring software. The Smith Safety Roadmap gives parents the road map and all
the steps necessary to keep their children safe while accessing or interfacing to the Internet.
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CBS Evening News Highlight with Gregory S. Smith
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