Safety+Student+Text

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 * __Internet Safety Tips for Kids __**

**//Ways to avoid problems in chat rooms: //** > There are two dangers when it comes to [|e-mail][|spam][|contact law enforcement].
 * **//Make Your Social Networking More Private //**
 * Don't give out information about yourself like your last name, your phone number, where you live, or where you go to school - without asking your parents first.
 * Never e-mail a picture of yourself to strangers.
 * If somebody says something to you, sends you something, or you see something that makes you uncomfortable, don't look around or explore; get your parents instead - they know what to do.
 * Making plans to meet your Internet buddies in real life is usually a really bad idea - how people are in real life can be very different from how they are online. If you decide to do it anyway, have your Mom or Dad help make the plans and go with you.
 * Don't open up e-mails, files, or Web pages that you get from people you don't really know or trust.
 * Don't ever give out your password, except to responsible adults in your family.
 * Always follow your family's rules for the Internet - they're there to make sure you have fun and stay safe online.
 * Don't ever do anything that could cost your family money unless your parents are there to help you do it.
 * Use the Internet with your kids. While you're spending time with them, you can help them to be safe and responsible online. Learn about the technology together, ask lots of questions, and don't be intimidated if it seems like your kids have a better understanding of the technology than you. Remember, it's your family, and you have the power and responsibility to keep an eye on what your kids are doing.
 * Teach kids never to give their personal information to people they meet online, especially in chat rooms and on bulletin boards. If you have a family web site with your children's pictures up, don't include information like where they go to school, where you live, your phone number, or any other personally identifiable information -- that's giving personal information out every bit as much as sending an e-mail or talking to someone in a chat room.
 * Instruct your child never to plan a face-to-face meeting with online acquaintances, and to notify you if they are approached for an offline meeting.
 * Establish clear ground rules for Internet use for your family. Think about signing a Contract with your children that reflects those rules. Learn about the different parental control tools, protective software, and controlled access options that are available, and decide which, if any, are best for your needs.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">Tell your children not to respond if they receive offensive or dangerous e-mail, chat requests, or other communications, and to leave if they go to a web site that makes them uncomfortable. Also tell them to show you anything they receive that makes them uncomfortable. Assuring them that you won't be angry with them and that they are not to blame can help you to develop a trusting, open relationship.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">If you become worried that your child or another child is in danger, don't hesitate to contact the [|authorities].
 * <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Consider using [|software]
 * [|Instant messaging]

=**__ FBI Website __**= [|**http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm**]

=** Introduction **= = While on-line computer exploration opens a world of possibilities for children, expanding their horizons and exposing them to different cultures and ways of life, they can be exposed to dangers as they hit the road exploring the information highway. There are individuals who attempt to sexually exploit children through the use of on-line services and the Internet. Some of these individuals gradually seduce their targets through the use of attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts. These individuals are often willing to devote considerable amounts of time, money, and energy in this process. They listen to and empathize with the problems of children. They will be aware of the latest music, hobbies, and interests of children. These individuals attempt to gradually lower children's inhibitions by slowly introducing sexual context and content into their conversations. = = There are other individuals, however, who immediately engage in sexually explicit conversation with children. Some offenders primarily collect and trade child-pornographic images, while others seek face-to-face meetings with children via on-line contacts. It is important for parents to understand that children can be indirectly victimized through conversation, i.e. "chat," as well as the transfer of sexually explicit information and material. Computer-sex offenders may also be evaluating children they come in contact with on-line for future face-to-face contact and direct victimization. Parents and children should remember that a computer-sex offender can be any age or sex the person does not have to fit the caricature of a dirty, unkempt, older man wearing a raincoat to be someone who could harm a child. = = Children, especially adolescents, are sometimes interested in and curious about sexuality and sexually explicit material. They may be moving away from the total control of parents and seeking to establish new relationships outside their family. Because they may be curious, children/adolescents sometimes use their on-line access to actively seek out such materials and individuals. Sex offenders targeting children will use and exploit these characteristics and needs. Some adolescent children may also be attracted to and lured by on-line offenders closer to their age who, although not technically child molesters, may be dangerous. Nevertheless, they have been seduced and manipulated by a clever offender and do not fully understand or recognize the potential danger of these contacts. = = This guide was prepared from actual investigations involving child victims, as well as investigations where law enforcement officers posed as children. Further information on protecting your child on-line may be found in the [|National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's] Child Safety on the Information Highway and Teen Safety on the Information Highway pamphlets. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt;">What Are Signs That Your Child Might Be At Risk On-line? **= =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Your child spends large amounts of time on-line, especially at night. **= = Most children that fall victim to computer-sex offenders spend large amounts of time on-line, particularly in chat rooms. They may go on-line after dinner and on the weekends. They may be latchkey kids whose parents have told them to stay at home after school. They go on-line to chat with friends, make new friends, pass time, and sometimes look for sexually explicit information. While much of the knowledge and experience gained may be valuable, parents should consider monitoring the amount of time spent on-line. = = Children on-line are at the greatest risk during the evening hours. While offenders are on-line around the clock, most work during the day and spend their evenings on-line trying to locate and lure children or seeking pornography. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">You find pornography on your child's computer. **= = Pornography is often used in the sexual victimization of children. Sex offenders often supply their potential victims with pornography as a means of opening sexual discussions and for seduction. Child pornography may be used to show the child victim that sex between children and adults is "normal." Parents should be conscious of the fact that a child may hide the pornographic files on diskettes from them. This may be especially true if the computer is used by other family members. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Your child receives phone calls from men you don't know or is making calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don't recognize. **= = While talking to a child victim on-line is a thrill for a computer-sex offender, it can be very cumbersome. Most want to talk to the children on the telephone. They often engage in "phone sex" with the children and often seek to set up an actual meeting for real sex. = = While a child may be hesitant to give out his/her home phone number, the computer-sex offenders will give out theirs. With Caller ID, they can readily find out the child's phone number. Some computer-sex offenders have even obtained toll-free 800 numbers, so that their potential victims can call them without their parents finding out. Others will tell the child to call collect. Both of these methods result in the computer-sex offender being able to find out the child's phone number. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don't know. **= = As part of the seduction process, it is common for offenders to send letters, photographs, and all manner of gifts to their potential victims. Computer-sex offenders have even sent plane tickets in order for the child to travel across the country to meet them. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room. **= = A child looking at pornographic images or having sexually explicit conversations does not want you to see it on the screen. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Your child becomes withdrawn from the family. **= = Computer-sex offenders will work very hard at driving a wedge between a child and their family or at exploiting their relationship. They will accentuate any minor problems at home that the child might have. Children may also become withdrawn after sexual victimization. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Your child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else. **= = Even if you don't subscribe to an on-line service or Internet service, your child may meet an offender while on-line at a friend's house or the library. Most computers come preloaded with on-line and/or Internet software. Computer-sex offenders will sometimes provide potential victims with a computer account for communications with them. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt;">What Should You Do If You Suspect Your Child Is Communicating With A Sexual Predator On-line? **= = Should any of the following situations arise in your household, via the Internet or on-line service, you should immediately contact your local or state law enforcement agency, the [|FBI], and the [|National Center for Missing and Exploited Children] : = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9.5pt;">What Can You Do To Minimize The Chances Of An On-line Exploiter Victimizing Your Child? **= =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Frequently Asked Questions: **= =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">My child has received an e-mail advertising for a pornographic website, what should I do? **= = Generally, advertising for an adult, pornographic website that is sent to an e-mail address does not violate federal law or the current laws of most states. In some states it may be a violation of law if the sender knows the recipient is under the age of 18. Such advertising can be reported to your service provider and, if known, the service provider of the originator. It can also be reported to your state and federal legislators, so they can be made aware of the extent of the problem. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Is any service safer than the others? **= = Sex offenders have contacted children via most of the major on-line services and the Internet. The most important factors in keeping your child safe on-line are the utilization of appropriate blocking software and/or parental controls, along with open, honest discussions with your child, monitoring his/her on-line activity, and following the tips in this pamphlet. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Should I just forbid my child from going on-line? **= = There are dangers in every part of our society. By educating your children to these dangers and taking appropriate steps to protect them, they can benefit from the wealth of information now available on-line. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Helpful Definitions: **= =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Internet ** - An immense, global network that connects computers via telephone lines and/or fiber networks to storehouses of electronic information. With only a computer, a modem, a telephone line and a service provider, people from all over the world can communicate and share information with little more than a few keystrokes. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Bulletin Board Systems (BBSs) ** - Electronic networks of computers that are connected by a central computer setup and operated by a system administrator or operator and are distinguishable from the Internet by their "dial-up" accessibility. BBS users link their individual computers to the central BBS computer by a modem which allows them to post messages, read messages left by others, trade information, or hold direct conversations. Access to a BBS can, and often is, privileged and limited to those users who have access privileges granted by the systems operator. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Commercial On-line Service (COS) ** - Examples of COSs are America Online, Prodigy, CompuServe and Microsoft Network, which provide access to their service for a fee. COSs generally offer limited access to the Internet as part of their total service package. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Internet Service Provider (ISP) ** - Examples of ISPs are Erols, Concentric and Netcom. These services offer direct, full access to the Internet at a flat, monthly rate and often provide electronic-mail service for their customers. ISPs often provide space on their servers for their customers to maintain World Wide Web (WWW) sites. Not all ISPs are commercial enterprises. Educational, governmental and nonprofit organizations also provide Internet access to their members. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Public Chat Rooms ** - Created, maintained, listed and monitored by the COS and other public domain systems such as Internet Relay Chat. A number of customers can be in the public chat rooms at any given time, which are monitored for illegal activity and even appropriate language by systems operators (SYSOP). Some public chat rooms are monitored more frequently than others, depending on the COS and the type of chat room. Violators can be reported to the administrators of the system (at America On-line they are referred to as terms of service [TOS]) which can revoke user privileges. The public chat rooms usually cover a broad range of topics such as entertainment, sports, game rooms, children only, etc. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Electronic Mail (E-Mail) ** - A function of BBSs, COSs and ISPs which provides for the transmission of messages and files between computers over a communications network similar to mailing a letter via the postal service. E-mail is stored on a server, where it will remain until the addressee retrieves it. Anonymity can be maintained by the sender by predetermining what the receiver will see as the "from" address. Another way to conceal one's identity is to use an "anonymous remailer," which is a service that allows the user to send an e-mail message repackaged under the remailer's own header, stripping off the originator's name completely. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Chat ** - Real-time text conversation between users in a chat room with no expectation of privacy. All chat conversation is accessible by all individuals in the chat room while the conversation is taking place. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Instant Messages ** - Private, real-time text conversation between two users in a chat room. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Internet Relay Chat (IRC) ** - Real-time text conversation similar to public and/or private chat rooms on COS. = =**<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Usenet (Newsgroups) ** - Like a giant, cork bulletin board where users post messages and information. Each posting is like an open letter and is capable of having attachments, such as graphic image files (GIFs). Anyone accessing the newsgroup can read the postings, take copies of posted items, or post responses. Each newsgroup can hold thousands of postings. Currently, there are over 29,000 public newsgroups and that number is growing daily. Newsgroups are both public and/or private. There is no listing of private newsgroups. A user of private newsgroups has to be invited into the newsgroup and be provided with the newsgroup's address. = =**__ Cyberbullying __**= =[]= =[]=
 * 1) =<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Your child or anyone in the household has received child pornography; =
 * 2) =<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your child is under 18 years of age; =
 * 3) = If one of these scenarios occurs, keep the computer turned off in order to preserve any evidence for future law enforcement use. Unless directed to do so by the law enforcement agency, you should not attempt to copy any of the images and/or text found on the computer. =
 * =<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Instruct your children: =
 * =<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">to never arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they met on- line; =
 * =<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">to never upload (post) pictures of themselves onto the Internet or on-line service to people they do not personally know; =
 * =<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">to never give out identifying information such as their name, home address, school name, or telephone number; =
 * =<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">to never download pictures from an unknown source, as there is a good chance there could be sexually explicit images; =
 * =<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">to never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent, or harassing; =

=**__ Sexting Tips __**= =__ Safety- Check this out - A survey of 1,500 kids who regularly use the internet __= =**__ With these statistics, America's recent shocking news headlines, and the amount of adult-oriented material available online constantly increasing, it has become even more important for parents to protect and supervise their kids on the Internet. What can you do to make sure your kids are surfing safely and taking advantage of the valuable content that is available on the Web? __**=
 * __ [] __**
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 * =1 in 4 children is exposed to unwanted sexual material on the internet.=
 * =1 in 5 children is approached or solicited for sex through e-mail or chat.=
 * =1 in 33 children is telephoned; receives letters, money or gifts; or is asked to meet for sex.=


 * __ Children's Technology Group (CTG) is a small company based in Golden, Colo., that is committed to providing today's kids with a safer Internet experience. "The Internet is an incredible educational resource, but parents have not been able to feel secure about what their child sees there. This is the problem we are addressing, and solving, as a company," said Greg Writer, CEO of Children's Technology Group. __**


 * __ CTG is a leading provider in kid-safe software and offers the following basic safety guidelines for parents to discuss with their kids. __**


 * __ Basic Cyberspace Rules: __**


 * =Don't talk to strangers.=
 * =Never give out your address or other personal information.=
 * =Always check with a parent before ordering anything online.=
 * =Surf and learn with your child; make a list of favorite Web sites that you both enjoy visiting.=
 * =Know with whom your child is interacting when using e-mail and chat rooms. Get acquainted with you child's online buddies.=
 * =Use the parental controls available through your online service, such as filters, to control surfing and e-mail usage. If such a service isn't available, demand it or subscribe to an Internet safety tool.=


 * __ Visitors to the Children's Technology Group Web site can find a host of useful Internet safety resources to combat these dangers, including Garfield Island, a one-of-a-kind online kid-safe Web browser suite developed by CTG in collaboration with Garfield's creator, Jim Davis. This Internet safety tool is a community software suite of Internet-safe applications complete with a Web browser, closed e-mail and instant messaging, secure chat rooms, games, and other fun content for kids. __**


 * __ Garfield Island gives parents total control over the features needed to protect their whole family, with a customized separate account from www.momsanddads.com. Here parents can set filter levels, program personalized encouraging messages, and add their own preapproved sites to CTG's exclusive "include list" of authorized family-safe sites. __**


 * __ The dangers of the Internet are far from being eliminated, but you can protect your family easily by being a knowledgeable parent. Educating yourself and your children about the harsh realities of the Internet and the security tools and resources available to you are one great defense. Arming yourself with software such as Garfield Island lets you take charge of your family's safety when surfing the Internet. To see the benefits for yourself and learn more, visit the Garfield Island Web site at www.garfieldisland.com. __**


 * __ Courtesy of ARA Content __**


 * __ EDITOR'S NOTE: For more information, contact Jay Cudal, Waggener Edstrom, (503) 443-7000, jayc@wagged.com or Jennifer Granston, Waggener Edstrom, (425) 638-7000, jenniferg@wagged.com or Rapid Response Team, Waggener Edstrom, (503) 443-7070, rrt@wagged.com. __**