Five Tips for Internet Safety

By Mark Hoerrner

Katherine Lester is an honor student. Her parents will readily talk about her academic success, her caring demeanor and her history of being the perfect child.

So what possessed her to craft multiple lies in order to obtain a passport and plane tickets that would ultimately find her in the Middle East searching for the man of her 16-year-old dreams? The lure of the Internet has a mystique about it that the U.S. hasn’t seen since pen pals were popular in the 1950s and 60s. Like the idea of pen pals, most Internet conversations have a high degree of anonymity, allowing anyone to masquerade as any persona they choose.

Myspace.com now boasts more than 72 million users worldwide. Though the site has some protections for users 15 and under, there are currently no foolproof protections to keep an internet predator out. Most sign-up processes require only the most minimal checkbox stating that the user is of a certain age, but no verification process is in place for free sites. Myspace is not the only site available; similar sites such as Blogspot and Livejournal also offer free blogs. Even eBay now allows users to set up their own blog.

Lester was lucky. Her paramour turned out to be a 20-year-old mail carrier named Abdullah whose love was true, if not a bit disturbing. The two name each other as soulmates and plan to get together as soon as possible. For now, both families are monitoring Lester’s online communications. It turns out that Abdullah actually sent Lester the money for her flight to Tel Aviv, Israel.

The problem lies in the fact that Lester’s situation is the exception to the rule. More than 27 million people worldwide are kept in human bondage as slaves. Lester was lucky in that her Abdullah might have simply been a slave trader looking for a new prostitute for sale. There’s no way teens can differentiate someone on the web who has pristine intentions from those who have nefarious plans. The popular television show Dateline aired multiple episodes dedicated to outing child predators by having police officers pose as young children online and then arranging a meeting with the predator. These shocking images illuminate the truth that a person claiming to be a 14-year-old boy might actually be a 56-year-old man.

To protect children from online predators, the following steps can be taken to reduce the chances of a youth being led astray by an online predator:

Have the talk. Let teens and children know what they are up against and why. This doesn’t have to be a graphic conversation, but it should be clear that there are people with negative intentions.

Keep computers in a central place. By keeping computers out of teen’s rooms and in a central place in the house allows parents to monitor the usage and content visited by simply being "around" the conduit.

Check the internet history. Most browsers maintain an automatic record of sites visited. Viewing these records can give you some clues as to where your child has been on the net.

Advise children to never meet any online acquaintance without supervision. Some correspondents, such as Lester’s Abdullah, may not have above-board motives.

Conceal the child’s identity online. While sites like Myspace and Livejournal allow users to post pictures of themselves, instruct children not to use identifying pictures, birthdates, or other personal information that might attract an online predator.

Every generation has its own concerns about the safety and security of young people, and the threats to children and teens seem to be increasing in severity with each passing decade. Some of the most frightening situations today are found online. Parents need to be cautious when allowing children and teens access to the Internet.