Children must be taught how to be cautious while using a computer.
Editor’s note: The following is the third of four columns submitted by the Sexual Assault Crisis Center in observance of Sexual Assault Awareness Month.
The August 2000 census figures show 51 percent of households owned at least one computer and 42 percent of households had Internet access on at least one computer. These numbers will continue to multiply as prices for computer systems continue to decrease.

Computers and the Internet can be invaluable resources for opening up a world of information and entertainment. They can also bring parts of the world we don’t like to think about, specifically child abuse and pornography, right into our homes.

A national survey conducted by the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire found almost one in five young Internet users between the ages of 10 and 17 received an unwanted sexual solicitation in the past year. The same report indicates that 25 percent of the young people surveyed were exposed to sexually explicit pictures online without seeking or expecting them.

What can you do to safeguard against these invasions?

Become computer literate and learn how to block objectionable material. Keep the computer in a common area, not in individual bedrooms, where you can watch and monitor your child. Prohibit and block your child from entering private chat rooms. Understand that posting messages to chat rooms reveals your e-mail address. Find out what, if any, online protection is offered by your child’s school, after-school center, friends’ homes or any place where they could use a computer without your supervision.

Dispel the myths about offenders. They can be any age or sex and from any walk of life. Remember, too, the Internet allows people to create a profile to be whomever they choose.

Instruct your children never to arrange a face-to-face meeting with someone they met online; never to upload (post) pictures of themselves onto the Internet or send pictures to people they do not personally know; and never to download pictures from an unknown source.

Encourage your kids to be careful and creative when choosing an e-mail address or screen name. Experts recommend using a combination of letters and numbers (no birthdays) and nothing gender specific. Tell them never to reveal personal information, such as address and phone numbers for home, school or work, not to share passwords and never to give out Social Security or credit card numbers.

Educate your kids that they must not respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent or harassing. Tell them to exit the site and inform you or another adult right away. Take your child seriously if they report an Internet exchange that made them feel uncomfortable.

Of the 218 cyberstalking cases surveyed by Working to Halt Online Abuse (WHOA) in 2002, 20.4 percent began as e-mail communications, 14 percent from a message board conversation, 11.5 percent from instant messaging, 8.5 percent from a website, and 7.5 percent from chat rooms.

What should you do if you learn about a computer offense?

If you or anyone in your household has received child pornography; your child has been sexually solicited by someone who knows that your child is under 18 years of age; or your child has received sexually explicit images from someone who knows your child is under the age of 18, immediately unplug the machine. Do not go through the normal shut down procedure as this can alter files. Contact authorities and unless directed to do so by the law enforcement agency, do not attempt to copy any of the images or text found on the computer.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children takes reports on unsolicited obscene material sent to a child. If you are aware of the transmission, use or viewing of child pornography online, a report can be made to the group’s Web site. Go to the reporting form called CyberTipline. They will forward this information to law enforcement officials (and our local Computer Crimes Task Force) for investigation.

Between March 1998 and September 2003, the CyberTipline received a total of 118, 987 reports of child pornography, and 1,890 reported cases of child prostitution. There have been 867 cases of child sex tourism, and 5,057 cases of child molestation (not in the family). Also, there were 8,768 reported cases of online enticement.
Sarah Wood is the client services coordinator for the Sexual Assault Crisis Center.

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