The Internet is for everyone. All people will find the online medium useful because everything is in there. There are lots of educational information, entertainment, and socialization going on and circulating within the Web.

Thus, your children will be more than willing to get online. Furthermore, they could also be forced to get into the Internet, because almost all their classmates and friends do so. Homework and research projects could also be done more easily, accurately, and conveniently using Internet sources.

Because kids are kids, they still lack enough experience and insight to protect themselves from opportunists. No matter how smart and aggressive they can be, they can still fall vulnerable to the traps and dangers of online crimes and offenses.

If you are a responsible parent who has kids that are regularly visiting online sites, you should be assertive and firm in instituting several online safety measures to protect your kids. The volume of crimes and offenses done to children online is constantly increasing, so you should be protective enough to make sure your child doesn’t fall a victim to online predators.

Cybercrime

There are numerous cyber crimes committed against children online nowadays. Take note that these crimes and offenses are actually regular crimes that took the form of online technology. An example of which is online abduction.

Kidnapping is a problem in almost all countries throughout the years. But more recently, the first reported and celebrated cases of abduction done through the Internet have been taking the limelight. That is because, in the past few years, people never imagined such crimes would be possibly perpetrated.

How is it committed? The criminal befriends the kid over the Internet, asks for personal details like addresses, or invites the kid for a personal meeting. The unsuspecting child, being a natural inquisitor and adventurer, might be going out of the house for an eyeball, and voilĂ , the abductor takes the opportunity to kidnap the child.

Other forms of online crimes are online child pornography, identity theft, and online child molestation and harassment. The Internet is full of pornographic materials that children shouldn’t see. If unguided, your kids might cross onto one of these sites.

When a child sees porn and violent materials over the Internet, his mind is eventually being polluted. His concept about life could be altered, and he would be aware of the concepts that shouldn’t be exposed to him until the proper time. Thus, he could be exposed very early to sex.

Tracking your child’s online friends

Almost all children across the globe are told by parents and guardians not to talk to strangers. Buts and criminals know such advices. So, these online predators cease to be strangers and instead disguise to be online individuals who are in desperate need of friends.

Your child might encounter them and be friends with them. When the criminal thinks he has befriended your child well, he then attacks. He might organize a personal meeting, or monitor your house and take the opportunity to abduct the child when nobody’s around.

Experts advise that you should be very stringent and watchful when it comes to knowing who your kids are online. Yes, you as the guardian of the kids must know who these online friends are. You should follow up and check out the identities of the online friends your kid has.

How could that be? It may not be easy, but it’s not too hard as well. Some kids find it alright if the parents directly asks about the information about their friends. However, some kids won’t find it acceptable because that is a clear invasion of privacy.

In such cases, watch over your child’s online activities by becoming a simple spy. You can check the records of the computer to check out the sites your child has visited online. You should also ask the Internet service providers about safety pins and measures to prevent your child from accidentally and intentionally getting onto porn sites.

If you want to find out about the email communications of your child with his online friends, you could volunteer to create an email account for your child. Take note of the passwords. Or you could share the same email with your child.

That way, you could monitor what is going on and know the activities and motives of your kid’s online friends. You could also get into several social networking sites where your kid has a membership. Constantly check out your kid’s social network profile and the friends on his list.

It would be very advisable if you would take the time to do the above measures to protect your child. The Internet is a wild jungle out there. Don’t let your kid wander alone.

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