The Danger Online

The Internet plays an important role in our current society. It is an invaluable educational device, a necessary research tool, an all important method of communication, and an overall fun place to be. As children are raised in the information age, their use of the Internet becomes second nature to them. Parents who grew up without this technology are sometimes unaware of how the Internet can be a dangerous place as well.

A survey taken in 2001 by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire found the following:

• One in 5 youth received a sexual approach or solicitation over the Internet in the past year.
  


• One in 33 youth received an aggressive sexual solicitation in the pastyear. This means a predator asked a young person to meet somewhere, called ayoung person on the phone, and/or sent the young person correspondence, money,or gifts through the U.S. Postal Service.
  


• One in 4 youth had an unwanted exposure in the past year to pictures of naked people or people having sex.
  


• One in 17 youth was threatened or harassed in the past year.
  


• Most young people who reported these incidents were not very disturbed about them, but a few found them distressing.
  


• Only a fraction of all episodes was reported to authorities such as the police, an Internet service provider, or a hotline.
  


• About 25 percent of the youth who encountered a sexual approach or solicitation told a parent. Almost 40 percent of those reporting an unwanted exposure to sexual material told a parent.
  


• Only 17 percent of youth and 11 percent of parents could name a specific authority, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), CyberTipline, or an Internet service provider, to which they could report an Internet crime, although more indicated they were vaguely aware of such authorities.
  


• In households with home Internet access, one-third of parents said they had filtering or blocking software on their computers.