WHO ARE THE EXPERTS?

Computer experts -- where can you find one? These days most of us do not have to look further than our own home. The true computer experts are somewhere between the third and twelfth grade, and they can be found in almost every home in America. Children are taught how to use computers as early as preschool. Unlike adults, kids are not afraid of or intimidated by computers. Most children learn how to use a computer to gain access to the Internet in school. They also learn how to use search engines that allow them to locate information on any topic. This is the beginning of the problem for most families. A computer is brought into the home, usually to assist the children with their homework. The expert -- your child -- is consulted to set up the computer and online service. The child then has control of the passwords that allow access to chat rooms, newsgroups and Web sites on the Internet. However the parents' controls are not set to allow the same total access. Because the parents do not see the entire Internet they have a false sense of security about what their children are doing on the Internet. All too frequently, police officers follow up on a complaint of pornography or threats being transmitted via the Internet, only to find that the parents know almost nothing about how the computer works. When the police ask questions concerning the computer and online service, the parents summon their child to explain how the computer was set up.

After consent by the parents, the computer is searched and the offending material is located, often to the shock of the parents and embarrassment of the child. After resetting the controls and explaining the operation of the online system, the parents now have control of their own computer. When leaving the home the police officers may leave behind some kind of pamphlet, such as the one created by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. This pamphlet details basic online safety rules for parents and children. A complete copy of the pamphlet used by the Naperville Police Department, with permission from the NCEMC, is included in this chapter. Several of its more important safeguards are listed here:
PUT THE COMPUTER IN A PUBLIC ROOM IN            THE HOME
NEVER GIVE OUT PERSONAL             INFORMATION  ONLINE
USE SOME KIND OF PARENTAL CONTROL
NEVER AGREE TO MEET IN PERSON            SOMEONE  YOU MET
ONLINE WITHOUT YOUR PARENTS
NEVER SEND ANYONE A PICTURE OF            YOURSELF  WITHOUT YOUR PARENTS'            PERMISSION

The most important safeguard is the placement of the computer. With today's hectic lifestyles, many households have two working parents, and children often cannot be supervised all the time. By placing the computer in a public room, such as the kitchen or family room, Mom and Dad can monitor their child's online activities. Placing the computer in the child's bedroom is asking for trouble. It is comparable to placing a television set with access to all channels, including adult programming, in their child's bedroom. Why allow a computer, with access to adult sites and chat rooms, to be placed out of your sight in your child's room?

UNDERSTANDING THE "STRANGER
DANGER" OF THE INTERNET

Next, you want your child to understand that a stranger is a stranger. Conversing online does not change that fact. Your child knows not to speak with a stranger on the playground, so why should the rules be different for online conversations? They would not tell a stranger where they live or go to school in person, so they should behave the same way online. They should understand that strangers can find out where they live with only a little personal information.

There are online services that allow anyone to receive the name and address for any listed telephone number in the United States and Canada. After giving the address it can "link" (connect) to a program that supplies a map of the neighborhood where the residence is located. These maps can include statewide displays and then go down to the single street on which the residence is located. This could supply the pedophile with exact directions to your child.

Parental controls can greatly increase the safety of your children online. There are several good programs designed for this purpose. One program, Cyber Sentinel, incorporates several helpful features. The program is "content-driven," not "address-driven" like most parental blocking programs. Simply put, the program actually "pre-reads" the site your child is attempting to load. If the site contains content that has been prohibited by the parents, it does not allow access to the site. Instead it takes a "screen capture" (a picture) of the site and sends it to a file the parents control. Parents can sign on to a password protected area of the computer and obtain an audit, in pictures, of sites their child has attempted to visit. Since the program is content-driven it works for Web sites regardless of how many times the address changes. It also functions in chat rooms, instant messages/whisper boxes, E-mail and word processing.

This program allows parents to customize prohibited content by adding personal information to the prohibited list. Items such as the child's last name, address, telephone number and where they go to school are just a few examples. Pedophiles online can be very persuasive; they can gain your child's trust and trick them into giving out personal information. By prohibiting this information, it is far less likely this information can be given. When the pedophile requests personal information, the computer catches the request and does not allow the child to see it. The pedophile's request can be printed out and given to your local police department for investigation. Since the entire screen is captured, the parents are able to supply the police with information such as screen name and service provider used. That type of information will assist the police in identifying the pedophile. Credit card numbers can also be prohibited to prevent children from misusing them online.

Children need to understand that they should never meet someone in person that they met online without their parents being present. If an online relationship reaches the point where someone wants to meet you in person, your parents need to be told about the meeting. If your parents agree to a meeting it should be at a public place, arranged and attended by the parents. This way everyone can feel safe -if not, they can just walk away. If the other person is only interested in making a new friend, they won't be upset or offended if a chaperone is present.

This method also works for adults to meet people in person that they have chatted with online. Take a girlfriend, boyfriend or coworker with you if you're going to meet someone. Again, anyone who is interested in making a friend will not mind a second person being present. In fact, they may appreciate your common-sense approach.

Finally, children should not send pictures of themselves to anyone online without their parents' permission. You never know what someone else will do with a picture of you. With very little knowledge and a basic graphics program, any image can be "morphed" or altered. These programs are so accurate that it is sometimes impossible to tell the image has been altered. It is not unusual for an angry ex-husband to morph the face of his wife onto a nude image of an adult film personality and then post it on the Internet or mail it to neighbors. The same thing can happen to any image your child sends out over the Internet.

CHAT ROOMS

The most popular, and dangerous, areas for children on the Internet are chat rooms. Chat rooms allow users of the Internet to converse with other users in real time, no matter where in the world they are located. A local telephone call to your Internet Service Provider (ISP) allows you to converse anywhere in the world for the cost of local phone call. With the right program, users can type their messages on a keyboard, see them displayed on their monitor,then see responses from one or one hundred people throughout the world. Some users have taken to installing inexpensive video cameras on their computers, allowing them to be seen online in real time.

Some of the most frequently used chat rooms exist on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) or within online services such as America Online.These chat rooms are listed by topic. Your child selects a "screen name," a name they wanted to be known by while chatting. The child can fill out a "profile", which can contain personal information. The profile can then be accessed by anyone using that online system. No Internet Service Provider conducts a verification of the profile information. The name can be a mixture of letters and numbers. The best analogy for a screen name is a "handle" on the CB radio. After selecting a screen name, the child then selects what room they want to chat in. After selecting a room, the child's screen name appears within that room. Once the child enters a room, the pedophile can check the profile for personal information. The pedophile can learn the age, sex and geographical location of the child. The pedophile can also learn what school the child attends.