Sexual Predators

ENG 310
13 August 2013
Essay #1 Rough Draft
Social Media and Predators
Because of many sick minded people in the world today it is therefore fitting to say that parents and adults need to be reminded of the dangers of the internet since kids are being targeted every day. With today’s social media and younger kids being able to go on Facebook, twitter, Instagram and other forms of these social media websites it has become very easy for predators to find and target children. Many parents can be clueless and have no idea of the danger these sites can be towards their children. Other parents don't understand how easy it is for a sexual predator to go on one of these sites and be able to talk with almost anyone.
Just a few years ago the danger was in online chat rooms. Today, children share personal information all across the web. They do it away from home on cell phone devices and parents may be clueless and not be able to monitor their children. New services on Facebook and twitter allow users to post pictures or tweets with a GPS locator giving sexual predators an upper hand and making it easier for them. Most children don't mention their social media accounts to their parents in fear that those accounts will be taken away. Predators have learned to master the current language and slang being used by kids in today's world and use it in approaching and targeting their victims.
According to the American Academy of Children and Adolescent Psychiatry, "Over 60% of 13-17 year olds have at least one profile on a social networking site, many spending more than 2 hours per day on social networking sites". With many adults being unaware of the dangers of social media it is important that information is available on dangers of these social media websites. Sexual predators aren't going away anytime soon and parents need to monitor and be aware of their children's involvement and use of social networking. These sites have become so popular that it’s going to take more than one person to address this issue.
Back in the day parents only needed to worry about MySpace and it was easier to monitor. However, today there are many of these social networking sites that kids have access to. "In 2007 MySpace removed 29,000 child sexual predators from its site." That number should be alarming to anyone, because with the growth of the internet and these sites that number has also grown. There are steps and various things parents can do to monitor their kid’s use of the internet and social networks.
Parents shouldn't ban their kids from using the internet, because kids will be kids and have the desire to go behind their parent’s backs. Parents should do research and even take classes to understand today's technology and how the internet works. Putting the computer in a common area in your house may be helpful in that your kid won’t be able to do anything that they wouldn’t want others to see. If your kid minimizes windows or hides things when you walk in treat it as a red flag. Also remind your kids about the dangers of the internet are also very important. Finally, don’t be afraid to ask your kids about their social media accounts and profiles talk to them and inform them that there are evil people out there that have nothing better to do than to try to find children to target.