Shielding Our Family On the Internet

By William Wilkie

The Internet has on occasion been matched to the wild west. Some of the reasons for that is since in those first years of the frontier, the ruling was in place to protect citizens of the land except in lots of cases, it was difficult to put into effect and criminals ran free to defy laws with no worry of being impeded.

When we have to look after our children on the Internet, in lots of ways, it's the wild west out there. Are there laws on the books to protect our children from being attacked by online criminals who would harm them? You can be sure there are. Nevertheless imposing those laws and capturing each pervert who your kid might come across out there online is a job that the police are working fast to conquer. But they have not conquered it so far. As a result the Internet is in several ways, an untamed frontier.

Whilst we do not desire to go to the time of the wild west when vigilantes roamed the land imposing brutal justice on criminals, we have to achieve something. The accounts we listen to on television and scan in the newspapers concerning kids being seduced and snatched from right under the noses of parents are profoundly terrifying.

It is the most disturbing thing about online criminals who would cause detriment our kids. Since the Internet is in our homes and even at this moment spreading to the cellular phones and pda's of our kids, the entrance of strangers to our children is effectively unlimited. Kids can log-in to chat rooms, use social networking sites like Facebook and see all types of filth online all as parents are scarcely a few feet away watching the news summary. Because of this exceptional approach, innovative tactics have to be developed for law enforcement to defend our children but moreover so we can unite with them to stop these wicked individuals who would use this wonderful tool of the internet for foul purposes.

At a community level, we need to give all the aid we can to our law enforcement officials to crack down on Internet stalkers so that they understand they could be caught and they will receive severe penalties for this category of crime. Some have even asked for the death penalty for individuals who stalk children online. How strict we as a society wish to deal with crimes of this sort is something that our Government needs to help us attain. But our primary line of defense is permitting those we have faith in to protect us to find and put in jail these criminals so these crimes can be stopped.

At present, we can not suppose law enforcement will be able to stop anyone from come within reach of our kids online. Accordingly, we as parents share in the task of making certain our houses are secure. Though the police are present to stop intruders we still secure our doors, and therefore we have got to secure the online world to lessen the threats to our kids becoming victims. The three strongest locks we can use to protect our families online are...

Software - There is software that we can install on our computers that stop our family from accessing specified websites where these stalkers hang out. Net Nanny software comes with Internet filtering programs and parental controls and they are not expensive and efficient

Information - We have got to instruct our kids not to converse to strangers online the same way that they learned not to do in person. Cyber stalkers are sharp so we should be in no doubt our kids understand the danger and do not engage anybody they don't know and trust on the Internet.

Communication - Retaining the lines of communication open with our children will ensure that if they deduce they are being approached by an online stalker, they can talk to their parents who can subsequently warn the authorities.

It's a shared effort to stop these stalkers from having contact to our kids. But by working as one with law enforcement and keeping those lines of communication open with our own kids, we can shut down their access to our children and so prevent their ability to commit crimes against the ones we love. - 31376

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