Just How Unsafe is The Internet? 
(and what can I do about it?)

by:
Brooke Jones


	By now, you've probably heard countless horror stories about
the dangers that lurk on the Internet.  Stories about children
being lured into face-to-face meetings with online predators;
stories about adults being conned out of their last dollar by
online con artists; stories about teenagers being turned into
mindless killers by online hate groups.  Well, these stories are
true - all of these things (and many more about which you may not
have heard) have happened!

	So, now that you know that the Internet can be a very
dangerous place indeed, what are you going to do?  You have
several choices:  

(a) You can toss your computer out of the nearest window,
(b) You can go to the home of your grandchildren and toss their
computer out of the nearest window,
 or...
(c) You can forget about heavy lifting, and spend a couple of
minutes right here, learning how to keep yourself and those you
love safe from the nasty people and places that populate the World
Wide Web.

(Personally, I think  "c" is the optimum choice, but who am I to
keep you from throwing machinery out of windows, if that's what
you really want to do.)


	Okay, so you've decided that "computer tossing" is not your
favorite sport...now what?  Well, now you need to know where the
dangers are, and what can be done to avoid them.    Let's begin
with the dangerous places that exist on the Internet.


	According to the US Government, there are now at least 2,200
Web Sites specifically devoted to preaching hatred, racism and
violence.  These Sites (sponsored by such organizations as the
KKK, the Aryan Nation, and the Neo-Nazi Party) are very cleverly
crafted to appeal to today's youngsters for the singular purpose
of recruiting our kids into the ranks of these horrific groups. 
Many of these Sites are so well designed that the teens who log on
to them don't realize that they are dealing with racists, thugs
and murderers.  The Sites have what seem to be innocuous online
games, Chat Rooms, and Message Boards - all of which put our
children in direct contact with the creators of these Sites. 


	Why would a well-adjusted all-American kid go from playing
Little League Baseball to taking a baseball bat to the head of a
homosexual?  The answer to that question is frightening in its
simplicity. 

	Ask yourself the following question:  "What is the one thing
that virtually all teens have in common?".    Answer:  The feeling
of alienation.    Feeling as if no one understands her (or him) is
as much a part of puberty as are raging hormones.  "Mom and Dad
don't listen".      "They don't understand me!".      "They treat
me like a kid!".     Sound familiar?  

	Now, put these same kids in a Chat Room with a group of Neo
Nazi adults who have one goal - to befriend those very kids - and
what do you think happens?  The adults listen without
interrupting.  They praise.  They vigorously appreciate everything
about the child.  Result:  the teen has finally found what he most
wants in life:  respect and a sense of belonging -- and, before
you can say "what's going on here?", the once well-adjusted all
American kid has become a card-carrying member of a new family.


	Moving right along...Web Sites made by hate groups are
certainly not the only online dangers our little ones face.  The
World Wide Web is, in essence, a microcosm of the world at large.  
Whatever exists in the real world also exists in the virtual
world.  There are pedophiles, pornographers, and pimps in every
nook cranny of the Internet, just as there are on the streets of
every large city and small town.  Our kids don't have to access
dangerous Web Sites in order to come in contact with them -
they're lurking in Web Sites made by good and trustworthy people! 
From Disney to Yahoo - the nasty people who populate the Web are
everywhere, and they're just waiting for our children to show up. 
Hundreds of Chat Rooms and game rooms created by well-intentioned
companies harbor people who wouldn't know a good intention if it
bit them on the nose.  

	These people use innocent-sounding Screen Names and describe
themselves as lonely twelve-year old girls or soccer-playing
fourteen-year old boys who have logged on in order to make
friends.  Unfortunately, children are naïve - so, an online friend
who claims to be a fourteen-year old boy must be a fourteen-year
old boy!   Our children are naïve, and these online "frauds" are
smart - it's a lethal combination.

	We teach our kids never to give out personal information to
people they meet on the Internet.  But anyone who thinks that this
prevents the dissemination of personal information is making a
terrible mistake.  Children do not need to give a stranger a home
phone number in order for the stranger to get the number.    These
people have several tricks up their sleeve.  

Example:  They don't ask the child for a home phone number, they
simply tell the child to call them...collect.  Presto:  the
collect call is made and the child's home number shows up on the
stranger's phone bill.  OR:  They tell the child to call direct,
and, thanks to Caller ID, the instant the call is placed, the
stranger has the child's number. 

	The incidents of crimes against children that can be
directly linked to online contact is rising at a truly terrifying
rate...and this brings us back to my original question:  What can
you do to safeguard those you love?   (tossing your loved one's
computer out of a window is sounding even more appealing now,
isn't it?)  Well, before you herniate another disc, let me tell
you that, thanks to modern technology, keeping kids safe while
they're online does not require physical exertion.  

	There are literally hundreds of so-called Blocking and
Filtering programs available - programs designed to keep the bad
people and places out of the reach of children.  But before you
run out and buy one or two of them, you should know that Blocking
and Filtering programs cannot keep kids safe.  As well-made as
some of them may be, no Blocking or Filtering program known to man
(or woman) can keep children from accessing most of the potential
online dangers.    The reasons for this are too numerous to go
into here, but suffice it to say that the tacky people who surf
the Web are not dummies - and they have more ways to get around
these programs than a centipede has legs.  

So, what can we do?  Simple - we can make absolutely certain that
we know exactly what children are being exposed to on the Web.  It
is only by reading what online strangers are saying that we can
have the ability to step in before tragedy strikes.  We all must
have a method by which we can read word-for-word transcripts of
everything that online strangers are saying to our kids. 
Something that runs automatically every time our little ones are
on the computer.  Something that records these transcripts in a
manner that is simple for us to use, and impossible for
cyberstalkers to side-step.  And, thanks to The Logical Company,
such a computer program now exists.  It's name is CHATMINDER, and
if you have little ones and if they have a computer, then you must
(not should - must) make sure that CHATMINDER is in that computer!
There is nothing else on the market that will give you (or your
grandchildren's parents) the ability to know what strangers are
saying or sending - nothing else that empowers adults to truly
safeguard children from online danger. 

Why do I personally endorse CHATMINDER?  For several reasons.
First because in my capacity as a nationally-recognized expert on
Internet Safety, I have made it my business to know what the
dangers are and what technology exists to circumvent these
dangers.  But perhaps more importantly, because I know a child who
was a victim of an online predator   She was befriended by a
person who claimed to be a fifteen-year old girl.  They talked
online for many weeks and then the cyberstranger suggested that
they meet at the Mall.  They met...and the rest is tragedy.  Had
her parents had CHATMINDER in their computer, they would have
known that this meeting had been arranged, and they would have
been able to step in and prevent it.   

As a result of this horrible incident, I have dedicated myself to
educating adults about the danger that children face when they go
online...and what can be (indeed must be) done to prevent such
danger.  This is why I tell you in no uncertain terms - CHATMINDER
is a software program that you absolutely must have!   For the
sake of your grandchildren,  please log on to   www.chatminder.com
and investigate the program for yourself.   

If you have any questions about the Internet Safety of the little
ones in your life, please feel free to contact me.  That's why I'm
here.







[Brooke Jones is the mother of two - well, three, if you count her
dog, Harley --  and the grandmother of three.  A former Talk Radio
hostess, she is the Media Director of the Ribbon Of Promise
NATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO END SCHOOL VIOLENCE. 
(www.ribbonofpromise.org)  She is also a nationally-recognized
expert on Internet Safety.  Her articles on the subject have been
published in newspapers and magazines throughout the country, and
on countless Web Sites.  In addition to her guest appearances on
hundreds of radio stations, in which she answers questions about
the dangers of the Internet, she conducts seminars on Raising
Children in a Virtual World;  The Internet's Role In Modern
Morality and The Internet's Role In School Violence.   Ms. Jones
can be reached at:  bjones@ribbonofpromise.org]