Taking Off Blinders to the Threat of Online Sexual Predators
Society is starting to open its eyes to the prevalence of online predators who lurk in cyberspace looking to befriend willing young Web surfers. Still, many of the organizations working to spread awareness worry that people are realizing the dangers too late.
Very true statement - people are realizing the dangers too late - otherwise there wouldn' t be any news stories to follow.
Parents may be resigned to their children's need for secrecy, but they increasingly are realizing that the "buddies" with whom they confide aren't necessarily the kids next door and could very well pose as much -- if not more -- of a threat as a stranger on the street. The study showed that 28 percent of parents don't know or are not sure whether their teens talk to strangers online.
Parents were only slightly concerned about the issue of online safety, found research by the Advertising Council. They were more worried about things like pregnancy and drugs and not "as aware of the [dangerous] world of the Web, and the pervasiveness of the issues, and the vulnerability of their children as potential victims," Ellyn Fisher, director of corporate communications for the Advertising Council, told TechNewsWorld.
What's even scarier is that one in 33 youths who go online receive an "aggressive" solicitation of a gift in the mail or a phone call. "Those are the predecessors of meeting in real life,".... Scary indeed.