Questions to ask.
- How well do you know your child’s internet use?
- How many hours does your child spend on the Internet?
- Does your ISP (Internet Service Provider) have different levels of access for children/parents?
- Computer location—is it in a private space or a central location?
- Do you know your child’s password?
- Does your child change tasks when you walk into the room?
- Does your child have a “Buddy List?”
- Do you know the users on the “Buddy List?”
- Do you ask your child who they are talking to?
- Do they participate in instant messages from someone they don’t know?
How well do you know the facts?
One out of four internet users ages 11-17 have received unsolicited sexual content online.
One in three girls and one in seven boys will be sexually molested before age 18.
Seventy-seven percent of those who molested boys and 87% of those who molested girls said they were regular users of hard-core pornography.
(http://www.childwelfare.gov/)
Online pornography in the news
USA Today reported approximately 30 percent of all websites contain some form of adult content.
US News and World Report states pornography in all forms is an estimated $8 billion annual business and online pornography alone is an estimated $300 million annual business.
Recognize the signs in your child
Your child spends too much time online.
Finding your child on the internet after bedtime.
Your child turns off the computer when you walk in the room.
Your child receives phone calls from people you don’t know.
You find long distance calls from numbers you do not recognize.
Your child receives mail from someone you do not know.
Your child becomes withdrawn with no explanation.
