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Parenting
Fighting the Net Nasties
by Sharon Jacobsen
The Internet is the most amazing tool the
world has ever seen. Information of all kinds is just a few clicks away,
accessed from the comfort of our own homes. We can buy, sell, make friends
and gain knowledge. However, there is an unfortunate downside.
Pornography is freely available on the Internet, and although the serious
players will go to certain lengths to ensure that minors aren't able to access
their sites, it's still far too easy for anybody, of any age, to gain access
to pornographic or illegal material.
Whilst we have to accept that a large percentage of Internet users DO want
to access pornography, there is an equally large percentage of parents who
DO NOT want their children viewing this material. Some may feel that nudity,
when presented in a proper fashion, is acceptable, but there are images out
there that portray every possible sex act imaginable, from straight intercourse
to bestiality (sex with animals) and, most worrying, child pornography.
What are the risks?
• Adult and child pornography, the latter of which is illegal, can be
extremely graphic, violent and desensitising. An innocent keyword typed into
a search engine or the misspelling of a Web site's name can lead children
(and adults) into sites that are shocking and often difficult to leave (some
sites automatically reopen themselves every time you try to leave.
• It's not uncommon that pornography sites name and describe their site
as something innocuous to entice people onto the site under false pretences.
At the moment it's popular for them to "hide behind" MP3 sites. (I've ventured
onto a few of them myself)
• Porn sites are not the only ones that use misleading content information
to increase visitors. Other sites, such as hate groups, cults, and weapons
related sites also use deceptive and aggressive strategies to entice people
onto their sites. These sites can include bomb making formulas, web pages
that glorify violence, and recruiting venues for groups that want to convince
children to help further their causes.
• Paedophiles exploit the anonymity that the Internet provides and often
reside in chat-rooms and other interactive areas frequented by children,
where they look for unassuming kids with whom they can cultivate a relationship,
giving false information as to their identity. If a chat-room friend say's
that he's 14, how can your kids be sure that he's not 34? They can't! These
predators often send alarming requests and transmit graphic pictures and
information.
• Email addresses can be gathered up by those who are looking to market
their sites aggressively. There are two main ways that this is done.
- indexed by robots from interactive sites. If your child uses sites which
display email addresses, whether it be competitions, guestbooks, discussion
forums, pen-friend sites, etc.
- you recieve an email announcing that you can take part in a competition.
To enter the competition you must forward the mail to X amount of people,
plus the sender. More often than not, this is a scam to collect email addresses.
Be sure to check your child's mail regularly and explain that they must NEVER
visit a site directly from an email without your consent.
So how can I avoid this? Quite simply, it's impossible to completely control
what your child might see on the Internet. Even when surfing with your child,
you may well end up on an unsavoury site. I was helping my daughter and her
friends look for Britney Spears on the web. We typed in the appropriate keywords
on a search engine, received a list of sites and started to click. One site
we entered was NOT Britney Spears, but pornography! Luckily, it wasn't too
hard-core, but it may well have been. And I then had the job of explaining
the other kid's parent's, how they got to see pornography from my computer.
That said, there are a few things you can do to make it less likely that
your child will be viewing unwanted material.
• Explain to your children the potential online dangers and how to avoid
them.
• Monitor the amount of time they spend online, in the same way you
would monitor their television viewing. Make sure they spend time with their
"real world" friends and have outdoor activities to enjoy.
• Keep the computer in the living area, where you can monitor online
activity. Don't allow your child to surf from the privacy of his/her bedroom.
• Password-protect your Internet access, and do not let your children
have access without your permission.
• Ask your child to tell you if they should experience something that
they don't feel comfortable with.
• Have a regular routine of checking the history files on your computer
to see where everyone has been surfing. And make sure your family knows you're
checking.
• Explain the dangers of using their real name when sending email to
people they do not know, or when participating in chat-rooms or other interactive
areas of websites. Encourage them to use "fun" names instead. A report by
the Annenberg Public Policy Center showed that children online are very likely
to give out information to marketers over the Web, especially when enticed
with a free gift.
• Explain that people they meet online are not always who they say they
are.
• Encourage your children to tell you about their online friends. Try
to get to know them yourselves, just the way you would with their "real world"
friends.
• Install filtering software, such at
Net Nanny (http://www.netnanny.com),
Cyber Patrol
(http://www.cyberpatrol.com) or
CYBERsitter (http://www.solidoak.com/).
This will enable you to monitor more closely what is coming into the computer,
and also, what you want ALLOWED into the computer. However, don't rely completely
upon this type of software, as they are far from foolproof.
What can we do to stop illegal activity on the Net? It's a little to idealistic
to believe that we will ever be able to stop it. The Internet is just like
the real world. There will always be those who are going to exploit the Net
and it's users. But unless we are willing to accept the Internet becoming
a society of predators where sexual gratification is the rule and the weak
and trusting children become subject to it, we have to fight it!
Pornographic sites that allow access without age verification
• Send an email to the owner of the site asking them to consider
restriction. Be polite and explain why you are concerned.
• If you're very concerned, you might also report it to your local police.
Sites promoting illegal activity
• Contact your local police, giving the address of the site, and any
other relevant information that you may have.
Child Pornography
Undoubtedly, this is something that everybody (with the exception of the
paedophile's themselves) want's to see stopped! Sadly, child pornography
flourishes on the Net and you'd probably be amazed at how easy it is to find.
Infact, it's easier to find child porn than to find where to report it! How
backward is that?
Not only is child porn available on the World Wide Web, but also through
IRQ and Newgroups. We are talking about children as young as 1 or 2 years
old being sexually exploited by grown men. Pictures of bruised and abused
children, forced to perform all kinds of sexual acts. There are thousands
upon thousands of children being abused this way. Some of them may very well
be kids from our own neighbourhoods, enticed into situations they were unable
to control or resolve. Paedophiles can be found anywhere, it any social group,
and so can their victims!
If you come across any child pornography on the Internet, PLEASE REPORT IT
at InternetWatch
(http://www.internetwatch.org.uk/hotline/hotline.html)
If you are a parent who believes that somebody is soliciting your child online,
report it to your local police.
Finally, I'd just like to say that although this article may scare off some
parents from allowing their children to use the Net, if you act in a responsible
manner, the likelihood of them coming into danger is decreased, whereas the
likelihood of them gaining valuable knowledge is huge!
Happy surfing!
Sharon Jacobsen is editor/owner of WeWomen.co.uk
(http://www.wewomen.co.uk) - a portal
and community for women in the UK. The site offers articles, web-picks,
discussions, polls, ecards and lots more.
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