Internet puts youth at risk
By Terry Dillman Of the News-Times
Protecting children from as many risks as humanly possible is a paramount concern for parents.
One of their most prevalent and time-worn worries involves children accosted by a stranger with ill intentions - on the street, on playgrounds, in schoolyards, and other places outside the home where children and youth gather. Today such predators can invade what is usually the safest haven of all - the family home - by creeping through cyberspace and gaining entry through the computer screen, even when a child is tucked snugly away in his or her own nook, with Mom and Dad in the next room.
"It's very scary," Micah Persons, one of two criminal investigators on Oregon's Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, told a gathering of parents, youngsters, and community leaders during a June 5 presentation at the Newport Church of the Nazarene.
Sponsored by the church, Lincoln County School District, Lincoln County Children's Advocacy Center, and local law enforcement agencies, the two-hour multimedia sojourn into the Internet ether aimed at providing the best safeguard against cyberspace predators - knowledge. Persons described the risks, discussed past and present cases and their ramifications, and offered tips to make Internet use as predator-proof as possible.
"Predators can find all the information they need by computer in 20 minutes," he said, offering a graphic demonstration of how it's done. "This also shows you the mentality and thought processes of some of the predators out there."
The amount of detail available for plucking in the virtual realm can lead someone right to the child's actual doorstep, along with a working knowledge of household schedules and when the child is most vulnerable. A predator can use every additional piece of information to glean more specific information and develop a more complete profile of the targeted youngster.
Giving and receiving information on the Internet is an anonymous dance with faceless partners, who can present themselves as whoever and whatever they want.
"Kids will tell the truth in online profiles," said Persons. "Adults usually lie, especially predators. People aren't always who they say they are."
For example, a 40-year-old male predator (99 percent are white males, most older than 25) can transform himself into a 19-year-old boy-of-her-dreams (complete with fake photo) for an unsuspecting teenage girl, enticing her to reveal too much information about herself, send compromising photographs of herself, or worst of all, agree to meet him in person somewhere.
"Once something is out there, it's gone," Persons noted. "Once you put something online, you can't control it. People can use it in ways you never meant."
Children are ideal targets, he said, because they're naturally curious, easily led by adults, crave attention and affection, and have an innate need to defy their parents. Persons said the most common online risks for children and teens are exposure to inappropriate material, sexual solicitation, harassment or bullying, and theft of personal information. Cyberbullying - the high-tech version of the familiar old schoolyard thuggery - involves the use of information and communication technology (e-mail, cell phone text message, instant message, defamatory personal web site, defamatory online personal poll, general website) to support deliberate, repeated, and hostile behavior by an individual or group intended to harm others.
An inescapable fact is that children are growing up on the Internet and computers, and the already complex technology - with all of its points of entry (blogs, chat rooms, bulletin boards, newsgroups, websites, e-mails, Internet-capable cell phones, and more) - is always changing, merging, and morphing.
Yet of all improper Internet contacts made by predators, 70 percent occur "at home," another 22 percent "at someone else's home."
Persons said parents should look for these warning signs:
€ A child changes or minimizes the screen when a parent walks into the room.
€ A child suddenly spends substantially more time online.
€ A child starts getting strange phone calls from people the parents don't know.
€ A child has new clothes, CDs, and other items from unknown sources.
€ A child becomes overly upset if Internet access is restricted or unavailable for even a short time.
€ A child is unusually withdrawn.
Persons said parents can take an active role by becoming computer literate, including learning "chatroom lingo."
Then it's a matter of establishing - and sticking to - house rules for Internet use.
Rules should specify what websites they can visit, who they can talk to online, how long they can stay online, and where outside the home they can use a computer. The best protection is to keep home computers with Internet access in a common area of the home, such as a family room, not in a child's room.
"Otherwise, they can be inviting predators into the safest place they know (their own room), and they let their guard down," Persons said.
Consider installing safeguarding options, such as blocks and filters. Periodically review a child's e-mail account. Find out what websites they go to by checking the "history" folder in the Internet browser. Visit those sites, and find out the type of information on them. "This isn't a matter of trust," said Persons. "It's a matter of safety."
Report any incidents to www.cybertipline.com or call the 24-hour hotline of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at 1-800-843-5678.
"Every tip we get will get processed and given at least an initial look," said Persons.
Oregon has one of 46 regional ICAC Task Forces, establishing the two-man team 18 months ago to follow what Attorney General Hardy Myers calls "a two-pronged approach to keep our kids safe" on the Oregon Department of Justice web site.
The stated mission of the ICAC Task Force is "to protect Oregon's children through community education and the identification, apprehension, and prosecution of those who commit Internet crimes against children."
Prevention through education - outreach to children, teens, parents, and teachers - is the top priority. In cooperation with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Task Force members conduct training and distribute training materials to other qualified trainers throughout Oregon. Myers said these interactive programs boost awareness of "the real dangers that exist on the Internet," and provide guidance to parents and educators for protecting children and youth.
Operation Black Ice is the enforcement aspect.
"We are seeking out, through lawful means, those who use the Internet to commit sexual crimes against children, and punishing them to the fullest extent of the law," stated Myers. "Like 'black ice,' they won't know we are there until it's too late."
For more about Internet safety and the Oregon program, visit www.doj.state.or.us/oricac/index.shtml.
Terry Dillman is a reporter for the News-Times. He can be reached at 265-8571, ext. 225, or terry.dillman@lee.net
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