"Don't talk to strangers!"

As a child, how often did you hear your parents, teachers, and other adults tell you this?  Simple, right?  As you grew older, this probably got a little more complicated.  A police officer, for example, may be someone you didn't know; however, you were allowed -- even encouraged -- to approach an authority figure like this if you were in trouble.  Then you grew a few years older.  You began to test the waters a little more.  A stranger pulls up to a stop sign where you are waiting to walk across the intersection.  This friendly person asks for directions to a nearby high school where her son is playing a basketball game this afternoon.  She is a stranger, but you don't really think much of this.  You give her the directions, she thanks you, and you both continue on your way. 

But all along, in the back of your head, you remember the popular refrain, "Don't talk to strangers!"

Part of what we love about children is their innocence.  How often do you hear a child innocently say something that makes you reminisce your youth, see something in a whole new light, or laugh for hours on end?  Unfortunately, this same innocence is the same thing of which Internet pedophiles take advantage.  Consider the following AOL Instant Messenger conversation taken from Perverted-Justice.com.  Soccer6720 is a 26 year-old online predator and JC Chasezzzzz is a correspondent for the organization posing as a 14 year-old boy. 


Soccer6720 [2:42 PM]: stats?

JC Chasezzzzz [2:43 PM]: 14 5-8 130 u?

Soccer6720 [2:43 PM]:  26 6'1, 215 brown hair/eyes

Soccer6720 [2:43 PM]:  pic?

JC Chasezzzzz [2:43 PM]: yea u?

Soccer6720 [2:43 PM]: trade

JC Chasezzzzz [2:44 PM]:  u promise 2 delte?

Soccer6720 [2:44 PM]: yes

JC Chasezzzzz [2:44 PM]:  k

Soccer6720 [2:44 PM]:  sen

Soccer6720 [2:44 PM]:  sent

Soccer6720 [2:47 PM]:  what streets u by

JC Chasezzzzz [2:48 PM]:  im on montrose

Soccer6720 [2:49 PM]:  and what

Soccer6720 [2:50 PM]:  what grade u in

JC Chasezzzzz [2:50 PM]:  9th

JC Chasezzzzz [2:50 PM]:  near pulaski

JC Chasezzzzz [2:50 PM]:  why?

Soccer6720 [2:51 PM]:  we should meet sometime

As this conversation shows, pedophiles who use the Internet are quick to cut to the chase and take advantage of children.  It is important that we educate children about online predators and how to use the Internet safely.  This web site is aimed to provide you with useful sources of information for educating children in these matters.  Online pedophiles are a real problem.  And definitely a scary one. 

With the growth of the Internet and online communications in our schools and in our everyday lives, the lesson of educating children about the dangers of talking to strangers enters a whole new dimension.  The same danger is there:  You don't know the person to whom you are talking, and you cannot gauge his or her true intentions.  What can we, as educators, do to inform children about the dangers of online predators and pedophiles? 

Technology and computers are a growing necessity, so it becomes essential to educate children about the potential dangers of online communication.  Children should be reminded never to give their name, address, phone number, school, or any other personal information to a stranger online, even if the person claims to be their own age, to be a friend of a friend, or anything else.  Also, it is necessary to teach children never to schedule a meeting with someone they have met on the Internet.  While it is important to teach children what they should not do while chatting with someone online, it is also important to recognize that they will be talking to people and not to discourage the activity altogether.  Instead, it is perhaps advisable to tell children it is OK to talk to people about their hobbies, to share their ideas, and to discuss other aspects of their life without getting too personal or identifying oneself.

Several of the resources listed below give tips on how to educate children about the dangers of online predators and pedophiles.  Specifically for teachers, I-SAFE America, listed below, offers curriculum for specific grade levels that teaches Internet safety and the dangers of online predators in a way that is understandable, not scary, yet still effective for each particular age group.  While this site is particularly useful for teachers, all the sites can be useful for parents, teachers, or other educators and mentors.  While browsing and thinking of ways to educate your students or children, keep in mind the following statistics regarding online predators and pedophiles.

Some Startling Statistics:

• 20% of children are solicited for sex (by either adults or other children) each year
• 67% of those arrested for Internet crimes against children also possessed child pornography
• 25% of children who receive sexual solicitations online tell their parents
• 89% of online sexual solicitations are received in chat rooms or on Instant Messengers
• 13 million children use Instant Messaging

Useful Links and Resources:


PeeJ Guide
http://www.perverted-justice.com/guide/
Part of Perverted-Justice.com, this link provides information about online predators and pedophiles as well as information parents and other adults can use and read with children.  The main site for the organization (http://www.perverted-justice.com) is for mature audiences only and contains graphic conversations between potential pedophiles and the group's contributors, who pose as children to catch the would-be pedophiles.

SafeKids.com
http://www.safekids.com/
This site recognizes the Internet as a valuable tool for children but also focuses on smart ways to use it as a resource.  Check out the article "Child Safety on the Information Highway" by Lawrence G. Magid as well as the "Guidelines for Parents" page, which is also useful for teachers and other educators.

i-SAFE America Inc.
http://www.isafe.org/
i-SAFE America was formed in 1998 as an organization dedicated to the protection of children and young adults while using the Internet.  The organization provides Internet safety curriculum for teachers as well as information for parents on Internet safety including issues such as identifying online predators.

staysafe.org
http://www.staysafe.org/index.html
This well-organized, easy-to-navigate site has pages specifically geared towards kids, teens, parents, seniors, and community members.  The site provides information on how to stay safe as well as up-to-date news on Internet safety issues.

National Juvenile Online Victimization Study (N-JOV)
http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/national_juvenile_online_victimization.html
Part of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire, this ongoing study examines just what it says: online victimization of children.  Their method of research and their findings are posted here along with an extensive bibliography of their publications.


Journal Article:

Mitchell, K.J., J. Wolak, and D. Finkelhor.  "Police Posing as Juveniles Online to Catch Sex Offenders: Is it working?"  Sexual Abuse: A Journal of Research and Treatment 17 (2005): 241-67.

This article examines the effectiveness of investigations in which people pose as children to catch would-be online pedophiles (such as the investigations of Perverted-Justice.com).  The paper shows that these investigations are, in fact, effective and that they account for a quarter of the arrests of online sex crimes against children.