Please, protect our kids! Scary Online Teenage Internet Use Statistics

Copyright 2006 Computer Guys Live Inc.

To understand the predator problem, you need to understand a little about another new phenomena called social engineering. Social engineering is the reshaping of parts of our real world life to blend with our lives in the virtual world. As gas prices increase, so will the number of online teens who innocently socialize with online predators--not knowing the real risks involved..Imagine the number of missing children who may have become prey. These children should have been warned and protected..

Parents need to educate their children about the risks involved in meeting a stranger, who they met online. Real scary risks such as kidnapping, possible rape and death. I and many of my colleageus have had a real heart to heart about internet use with our own children. We are all familiar with the statistics for online shopping and the huge increase, but here are some scary teenage internet use statistics you may not know:

87% of teens age 12 to 17 use the Internet in some aspect of their daily lives. (Source: Pew Internet & American life Project).

79% of online teens say they are not careful when sharing personal information. (Source: Pew Internet & American life Project).

71% of teens have received messages online from someone they do not know. (Source: National Center For Missing & Exploited Children).

64% say they do things online they don’t want their parents to know about. (Source: Pew Internet & American life Project)

45% of teens have been asked for personal information by someone they did not know. (Source: National Center For Missing & Exploited Children)

20% of 8-to-18 year olds have a computer with Internet access in their own room. (Source: Kaiser Foundation)

14% of teens have met face-to-face with a person they had known only through the Internet. (Source: National Center For Missing & Exploited Children)

14%, wow, that is a really high number, that equals 14 out of every 100 children! Multiply that by the millions online and that is why this is such a serious problem!

Athough there are software programs parents can use to help protect their children online, education and setting limits are the primary defense. This requires a constant communication and vigilance with your teens who socialize online. The hottest teenage social landscape has become online communication, which opens up the whole world to naive teens who are lonely, or just bored. They go to a chat room and start talking to strangers without thinking about how much personal information they are divulging. Sexual predators are so named because they hunt down and strike like wild beasts. Except their prey they hunt, is innocent children. If your child has had contact with a suspicious "friend" online, report their e-mail immediately to the proper authorities.

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