The playground is no longer the favorite spot for kidnappers and pedophiles who are searching for their next victim. They have now moved into the anonymous world of cyberspace where they can be anyone, or anything, their potential victim wants them to be, but so has law enforcement. Several Cybercop units have formed around the nation to track online predators and arrest them when they can. One tool now being used by law enforcement is Mousetrap, an interactive CD-ROM that shows how predators get close to their victims online and in real life. The Virginia Community Policing Institute, creators of Mousetrap, is partnering with local law enforcement agencies to show parents, and young Web Surfers, how to recognize potential dangers online and how to avoid them. The Riverside Police Department recently received a copy of Mousetrap and plans to offer it to the community as an online education tool. "We are in the planning stages of providing a showing of this program to the public," administrative clerk Joe Nelson said. "It helps parents, teachers, and other concerned adults to understand Internet communications and to see inside the world of the online predator." Mousetrap is free to the public and offers resources that include a list of terms and acronyms frequently used on the Internet and a warning sign checklist for kids and for parents. The program encourages parents to use the computer and Internet as a bonding tool where they can surf the Web together and discuss interesting things found on it. "Parents should know where their kids go on the Internet and their kids should feel they can trust their parents to tell them if anyone says or does anything online that makes them uncomfortable," Nelson said. Nelson said he has already distributed several copies of Mousetrap to different organizations including Cook Springs and Riverside Baptist churches. Prevention and intervention Mousetrap's list of warning signs for parents include things to watch out for in a child's online behavior. For example, parents should be suspicious and ask questions if their child changes the computer screen quickly when a parent walks into the room, if children begin receiving mail, gifts, or phone calls from people they do not know, or becomes withdrawn from the family. Mousetrap also offers tips on how to protect children from online predators through the use of filters and other protective software. It also teaches parents how to check the history of Internet browsers, search for “cookies” on the computer and how to search the history of e-mail files to know where children are visiting on the Web and who they are talking to. The numbers According to statistics, more than 45 million kids were online in 2002 and 32 percent of those aged 16-17 are online for five or more hours a day. Much of that time is spent in online chat rooms holding conversations with, and giving out personal information to, people they don't even know. Oftentimes, young people believe they are chatting it up with a 14-year-old "friend" when in reality they are sharing their intimate details with a 45-year-old sexual predator who is just looking for the right in-road to gaining their victim's trust. According to the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway Children published in October 2002, nearly one in five missing teenagers 15-17 years old are missing because of Internet activity. A 1999 survey conducted by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children showed that approximately one in five young people online received a sexual solicitation or approach over the Internet in the last year. One in 33 was an aggressive solicitation where a solicitor asked them to meet somewhere, or called them on the phone, or sent them mails, gifts, and money. "The number of children and teens abducted by "friends" they meet online is staggering," Nelson said. "Mousetrap is a good way to start teaching yourself and your kids how to protect themselves." To get a free copy of Mousetrap for PC and Mac, visit the Virginia Community Policing Institute's Web Site at www.vcpionline.org |
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About Kellie L. Long
| Kellie Long is Editor of The St. Clair Times. |
Contact Kellie L. Long
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Phone::
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(205) 884-3400
klong@thestclairtimes.com |