It's parents' role to protect children from Internet evils

The children of every generation, it seems, give their parents something new to worry about. Rock 'n' Roll. Reckless driving. Drugs. Sexually transmitted diseases. Video game addictions.
For parents of the current generation, a matter of serious concern is or should be the susceptibility of teenagers to Internet predators. And while police agencies and child advocacy groups have launched efforts to protect children from predators, the best defense starts at home. Parents should not lull themselves into a false sense of security by thinking that their computer-literate child could not become prey to an Internet predator.
As a story in Saturday's Vindicator noted, Dan Valentine, a juvenile officer with Beaver Township police, has issued a warning for parents of South Range School District pupils about the amount of personal information teenagers are willing to share on popular Web sites. Some of the most popular are MySpace.com, Xanga.com, Alldumb.com and Rotten.com.
As the story noted, the sites have become increasingly popular over the past few years and offer little or no restrictions on who can become a member. Site users create profile pages filled with their interests, hobbies and other personal details, as well as photographs, video clips and music.
The sites allow teenagers to share their thoughts and feelings; they have also become trolling zones for pedophiles.
TV investigation
Last week, the "Dateline NBC" television magazine ran its third installment on Internet predators. Working in cooperation with the Riverside County, Calif., Sheriff's Department and members of perverted-justice.com, a Web site that used fictitious Internet profiles of 12- and 13-year-old boys and girls to chat with suspected child molesters on the Internet, the TV showed snared 49 men who went to a house expecting to meet young girls or boys.
The men ranged in age from late teens to their 60s, they ranged from unemployed to professional, from novices to convicted sex offenders. Some brought alcohol to the meetings they expected to have with children and many carried condoms.
These developments are frightening, but they are not cause for panic. They call for parents to take precautions that will help protect their children from predators.
The first, of course, is to communicate with children about what's appropriate chatroom behavior and what isn't. Individual families must decide what methods and levels of control work for them.
Computer programs are available that give a computer savvy parent the ability to monitor virtually every keystroke a child makes on his or her computer. But that level of oversight has the potential for damaging the relationship between a parent and child. And it also only covers the in-home computer. Teenagers have access to machines at school, the library and at the homes of friends.
And even as the Internet is the source of the potential problem, it also contains information parents can use to protect their children. Some of the Web sites that could prove helpful are wiredsafety.org, www.protectkids.com and perverted-justice.com, the site that worked with NBC.
The police and the courts can and should pursue and punish adults who use the Internet as a way of getting their hands on children. But punishment is after the fact; parents are in the best position to protect their children from becoming victims.