Staying+safe+from+online+predators

How to stay away from oline predators, if a child is online make sure they keep special information for themseleves, such as their ID name, area where they are located

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=**There's someone you can turn to when you realize the person you're talking to is an online predator**= = 'Matt Thought He Knew' = watch YOUTUBE video: []

Definition: An online predator is an adult internet user who exploits vulnerable children or teens, usually for sexual or other abusive purposes.

As teens, we should be responsible and know what we can do and what we can't. For example don't chat with a person who you don't know. Or if you are really stubborn just make sure that the person you are chatting to does not have any dirty thoughts. Remember never give away your real ID or real name or age.

This is how you get to know if the person is an online predator or not:
 * 1) male
 * 2) seductive
 * 3) intorverted
 * 4) sadistic
 * 5) sexually indiscriminate
 * targets by showing kindness, attention, and even gifts
 * some are faster workers, they tend to jump right into sexual conversation
 * this may also include harrasment or stalking
 * they evaluate the kids they meet online for future face to face contact

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**WAYS TO IDENTIFY AN ONLINE PREDATOR AND HOW TO AVOID THEM**
1) They chat with you out of the blue 2) They become overly personal (eg. whch school do you go to) 3) They start talking about sex easily 4) Stop chatting asap if you think the person is an online predator 5) Block them from all means of communication as they want to follow you whenever you're online 6) Report the predator to an adult

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=**WHAT EXACTLY DOES AN ONLINE PREDATOR DO?**= Many of the online predators are sexual predators. They target boys and girls of all ages and take the advantage of computers as they can be whomever they want. Many are master manipulators with skills that can cripple any child's sense of awareness. This is known as the grooming process and predators look for children that are more technically savvy than their parents. They look for children that are emotionally vulnerable which can be related to personal issues derived from problems at school or home. They use these issues to befriend the victim and empathize with them while building a pseudo friendship and trust. If a child indicates frustration with parents or teachers at school the predator might suggest the child's parents are way too strict or their teacher is being unfair and this plays right into the adolescent mind as they look for people to verify their feelings.

With the presence of searchable user profiles when dealing with Instant Messaging and Chat Rooms as well as Social Networking profiles, predators can easily find information about potential victims since many naive children list personal information with no regard for safety. Even simple statements listed on a profile such as school attended, sport played, or even what jersey number worn can allow predators to target them. A 16 year old girl who innocently posts a picture of her new car in front of her house for her friends to see is also providing information for potential predators such as what her car looks like, her license plate number, house address, what her house looks like etc.

Once a predator Instant Messages or Chats with a victim and gains their trust they often send pornographic pictures via the IM session or e-mail and sometimes gifts through the mail. They might even have a toll free phone number for the victim to call or mail a cell phone so it will not show up on their parent's phone bill. If the victim tries to cut off communication, predators will often convince them that they will tell their parents what they have been doing online and that they have viewed pornographic pictures, etc. and scare the victim into continuing the relationship.

The Internet is a worldwide network that stretches far beyond the grasp of the US judicial system. Technology moves so fast the slow progression of our law making process will never fully address the problem. Therefore, parents must be on guard to protect their families. There are many organizations and government agencies designed to assist parents with issues such as these. Internet searching for information will also provide many links and web sites to help.

• Chat Rooms (based on interest) • Look for child oriented screen names • Search through SN profiles • Strike up a conversation • Show interest and gain their trust • Build them up (be their friend)
 * Predator Grooming **

• Spends a lot of time online • Find porn on the computer • Receive phone calls, mail, gifts from people you do not know • Withdraws from normal activity • Switches screen quickly (Alt+Tab) • Uses other accounts for e-mail or Instant Messaging
 * Predator Warning Signs **

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**Some Facts about Online Pradators:**
The majority of sexual predators are online during the evening because they have jobs during the day, thus, children who go onlien during night are at a greater risk of chatting with a sexual predator Many times, online predators use gifts to get the child to like them. These gifts could be toys, pictures, planetickets and gift accounts on websites. Toys and pictures could simply win favor of the child while plane tickets and gift accounts are more logistical in nature. a sexual predator send plane tickets to a child so that child could visit him.  > > ==Gifts== > > ==Isolation== > > ==Phone Calls== > > ==Sexually Explicit Material==
 * Time Frame**
 * Gifts**
 * Isolation**
 * Phone Calls**
 * Sexually Explicit Materials**
 * ==Time Frame==
 * The majority of sexual predators are online during the evening because they have [|jobs] during the day, thus children who are online at night are at the greatest risk of coming across a sexual predator.
 * Many times online sexual predators use gifts to sway potential victims. These gifts might include [|toys], pictures, plane tickets and gift accounts on websites. While gifts such as toys and pictures might be used by an online sexual predator simply to win favor with the child, gifts such as plane tickets and website accounts are more logistical in nature. An online sexual predator might send plane tickets to a child so that the child can visit him. Gift accounts on websites allow children access to websites where the online sexual predator can interact with them and where the child would otherwise not be granted access.
 * According to a FBI brochure titled "A Parent's Guide to [|Internet] Safety," a sexual predator works to isolate his child victim from the family. By creating distance between a child and her family, the predator tricks the child into becoming more dependent on him. As the predator makes minor issues the child is having with her family into major issues, the child feels she is growing closer to her predator because her predator understands her, while her family does not.
 * While an online sexual predator might start to prey on a child on the Internet, he will soon try to move the relationship to phone calls. Sexual predators will often engage in phone sex with their young victims, warns the FBI. They will also try to set up a time and place when they can meet up with the child. To get around any warning the child might have received from his parents about giving out his home phone number, an online sexual predator will give the child a phone number to call, sometimes even an 800 number to avoid long-distance phone charges from showing up on the child's phone bill. The predator is then able to get the child's home number through the use of caller ID.
 * Online sexual predators often begin their victimization of a child while the relationship is still strictly online. He might send the child photographs that are sexual in nature, either of himself or of others. He might also engage in sexual conversations with the child, consisting of sexual questions that he asks the child.

[|Facts About Online Sexual Predators | eHow.com][]

**ONLINE PREDATOR STATISTICS**
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 * ==**Approximately 93 percent of all Americans between 12 and 17 years old are internet users** (as of 2007)[|[i]]==
 * **One in five U.S. teenagers** who regularly log on to the Internet **says they have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the Web.** Solicitations were defined as requests to engage in sexual activities or sexual talk, or to give out personal sexual information. (only 25% of those told a parent) [|[ii]]
 * **About 30% of the victims of Internet sexual exploitation are boys.**
 * Internet sexual predators tend to fall between the ages of 18 and 55, although some are older or younger. Their targets tend to be between the ages of 11 and 15
 * **In 100% of the cases, teens that are the victims of sexual predators have gone willingly to meet with them[|[iii]].**
 * There are over 644,865 Registered Sex Offenders in the United States (2008)[|[iv]].
 * **Teens are willing to meet with strangers:** 16 percent of teens considered meeting someone they've only talked to online and 8 percent have actually met someone they only knew online[|[v]].
 * **75% of children are willing to share personal information online** about themselves and their family in exchange for goods and services[|[vi]].

=Predator Uses Online Gaming to Lure Kids, Find out How & Why= []