The Danger: The Internet is a constantly growing educational resource for children and can be a positive experience. Millions of children surf the Internet for school and entertainment every day. Children also communicate through E-Mails, chat rooms, and public message boards. Unsupervised, the Internet can be dangerous, exposing our children to predators and inappropriate material.
According to a survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice, one in five children receive unwanted sexual solicitations online and seventy percent of these unwanted solicitations happen on a home computer. The survey also found that most families who have youth who use the Internet regularly do not use filtering or blocking software.
The Solution:
Parents should educate their children to be cyber-smart. Prevention and awareness is the key to deter cyber-predators and exposure to inappropriate material. Children are trusting, naive, and curious. They must be supervised by parents who have a fundamental understanding of computer technology and the Internet.