"There's been some overreaction to the new technology, especially when it comes to the danger that strangers represent," said Janis Wolak, a sociologist at the Crimes against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire in Durham.
"Actually, Internet-related sex crimes are a pretty small proportion of sex crimes that adolescents suffer," Wolak added, based on three nationwide surveys conducted by the center.
Two of the surveys contacted 3,000 Internet users aged 10-17 in 2000 and again in 2005. The third sums up findings from 612 interviews with investigators at a nationally representative sample of agencies that deal with Internet sex crimes involving children.
In an article titled "Online 'Predators' and Their Victims," which appears Tuesday in American Psychologist, the journal of the American Psychological Association, Wolak and co-researchers examined several fears that they concluded are myths:
- Internet predators are driving up child sex crime rates.
- Internet predators are pedophiles.
- Internet predators represent a new dimension of child sexual abuse.
- Internet predators trick or abduct their victims.
- Internet predators meet their victims by posing online as other teens.
- Online interactions with strangers are risky.
- Internet predators go after any child.
Finding: Sex assaults on teens fell 52 percent from 1993 to 2005, according to the Justice Department's National Crime Victimization Survey, the best measure of U.S. crime trends. "The Internet may not be as risky as a lot of other things that parents do without concern, such as driving kids to the mall and leaving them there for two hours," Wolak said.
Finding: Internet predators don't hit on the prepubescent children whom pedophiles target. They target adolescents, who have more access to computers, more privacy and more interest in sex and romance, Wolak's team determined from interviews with investigators.
Finding: The means of communication is new, according to Wolak, but most Internet-linked offenses are essentially statutory rape: nonforcible sex crimes against minors too young to consent to sexual relationships with adults.
Finding: Most victims meet online offenders face-to-face and go to those meetings expecting to engage in sex. Nearly three-quarters have sex with partners they met on the Internet more than once.
Finding: Only 5 percent of predators did that, according to the survey of investigators.
Finding: Many teens interact online all the time with people they don't know. What's risky, according to Wolak, is giving out names, phone numbers and pictures to strangers and talking online with them about sex.
Finding: Usually their targets are adolescent girls or adolescent boys of uncertain sexual orientation, according to Wolak. Youths with histories of sexual abuse, sexual orientation concerns and patterns of off- and online risk-taking are especially at risk.
ON THE WEB
For more research by the University of New Hampshire's Crimes against Children Research Center, go to www.unh.edu/ccrc/
For tips for parents, go to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children at www.missingkids.com
McClatchy Newspapers 2008
Just some interesting results from a recent study. Not to diminish the dangers of internet predators at all, but some of these results should probably make people think a bit. It's not the internet that leads to more child sex abuse; more likely it's poor parenting.
3 comments:
You know, the article did not surprise me at all. Most of what it said is pretty much common sense. Though it is unfair to say it is "poor parenting" I think. In lot of ways, the internet is still a new phenomenon and one in which kids are often more savvy than the parents. Parents do need more education on online interaction and safety, but I think the information is slowly getting there.
And besides, isn't one of the main conclusions of the study that online sex predators are less prolific than thought? How does that add up to bad parenting?
My comment was more that the fears about the threat of online predators is over inflated. The poor parenting comment is, I suppose, the result of my frustration with parents too often blaming new technology or freedoms for the ills that befall kids. Yes, the internet is new, but anyone who uses a new technology should take the time to educate themselves (as well as their kids) about how to use it. I guess it is similar to my frustration with the censorship people that think racy (though oddly not violent) movies are responsible for increased sex among adolescents and the moral decay of America. If you don't want your kids exposed too that stuff, you as the parent must monitor what they watch. Technology and information make our lives easier on the one hand, but they require more responsibility on the other. The education is getting there, yes, and things are apparently getting better. I just hate when people shift blame. Plus, damn it, I am tired of seeing Chris Hansen catch mentally handicapped people for the 4th time.
Ah, a topic that hits particularly close to home, considering I'm a parent... and one who intends to have as tech savvy a child as one can possibly have. :)
Internet predators are driving up child sex crime rates. I never really assumed this was true, so this doesn't surprise me.
Internet predators are pedophiles. Personally, I think this is quibbling over "prepubescent" and "adolescent". I don't think many parents freakin care which category their child falls into, they don't want HyoogCock342 asking them what they like to to do on rainy days when naked.
Internet predators represent a new dimension of child sexual abuse.
The findings here are not really a surpise.
Internet predators trick or abduct their victims.
Again, findings are not too surprising.
Internet predators meet their victims by posing online as other teens.
This did surprise me somewhat, though in hindsight, it shouldn't have. From watching "To Catch a Predator", I don't actually recall anyone actually misrepresenting themselves...
Online interactions with strangers are risky.
Well der. Interacting with a stranger on the internet isn't any more risky, in my opinion, than interacting with a stranger in real life... So if I'm still telling my kid "don't talk to strangers", that applies to either medium. But for the most part, I'm not going to assume that one is more dangerous than the other.
Internet predators go after any child.
Yup, findings are not surprising.
Conclusions: For the most part, nothing really new here. But since I'm on the upper end of the "tech savvy" scale, the fear of the unknown doesn't really kick in for me. But for parents who aren't really familiar with the internet as their children, I can certainly understand why it might be a little disconcerting.
See, the internet provides an unprecidented amount of personal freedom to children... You can literally meet and talk to anyone you want from anywhere in the world. They are exposed to new ideas, cultures, people, you name it, it's there. And that is a beautiful thing in my opinion. I've always said that the internet is the single most important invention since the printing press.
The problem is, the internet *does* have a dark side, and for a parent that isn't very tech savvy, it's very hard to control what your child can or cannot access. Most parental filtering programs are a joke... If a kid can setup port forwarding on their home router to play games (something most parents wouldn't even have a clue how to do, I might add), they usually have the basic skills necessary to figure out how to dismantle parental filtering, and re-enable it once they are done doing whatever it is that want to do.
Like the TV or the movie theater, the only way to control what your kid is exposed to is to be directly involved in their activities in some respect. Keep your computer in a public, commonly traveled room. Keep tabs on what your kids are viewing. And most importantly, talk with your kids, and emphasize the importance of personal security: not giving out contact information (phone numbers, home address, etc) to anyone, including people you think you trust.
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