How to Protect Your Child from Internet Predators

An internet predator is an adult who attempts to solicit a minor with the intent to pressure the child or teen into a sexual encounter.

To protect your child, you must first help them understand that not everything they see or hear on the internet is real, and that not everyone is good, whether they're on or offline. Young children in particular have a hard time understanding those concepts, so using the old lessons of "stranger danger" to explain this idea should help. Tweens and teens tend to think they "know better" so make sure they understand that predators often pose as other teens. This means that "cute 15 year old girl" your child is chatting with may actually be a 53 year old sex offender recently released from prison.

Your child also needs to know that predators are skilled at posing as "caring" adults or older teens who "really understand" your child, but whose intent is to come between your child and those who genuinely love them. This is particularly dangerous for "loners" and troubled youth who have a hard time recognizing the manipulation of a predator for what it is.

Most important is to keep talking with your children - you should be able to tell by their behavior if something is worrying them. And they need to know they can always talk to you if they are ever made to feel uncomfortable online.

"Six out of 10 kids online have gotten an email or instant message from a perfect stranger... and more than half have written back. One in 33 kids has bee aggressively solicited to meet their "cyber friend" in person. One in four kids, ages 10-17, has been exposed to unwanted sexual material online." (Excerpt from a 2008 FBI report entitled: "Internet Safety for the Wired Generation; Advice from FBI Cyber Expert Arnold Bell on Protecting Our Children.)

Find out more about keeping your kids safe online with the informative tips and free video series from GamesAtGrandmas.com.

About The Author My name is Kristen, and as the mother of three children, I am concerned about keeping my children - and all children - safe on the internet. There are countless wonderful educational and entertaining sites online, but there are also many, many dangerous predators and cyber bullies looking for children to victimize. By teaching internet safety tips to children and their parents, I hope to help prevent children from becoming victims of internet predators. Along the way, they will also learn what to do to stop cyberbullying and how to protect their privacy online. http://GamesAtGrandmas.com.