“Safe and sound at home,” that is a phrase that is not valid any more because your child can meet anyone, even a predator, without ever leaving the comfort of home.
Parents used to be able to control who their children interacted with by just knowing as much as possible about their activities outside the home. Now parents must monitor their children’s activities especially when their child is at home alone with a computer.
On Thursday, Feb. 22, Sgt. Nicholas Alexander, a computer forensic analyst, and Detective Thomas Champaigne of the Superior Police Department gave an Internet safety presentation to more than 60 people who had gathered at Holy Family Catholic Church, 2430 W. Third St., to learn more about keeping children safe while they are on the Internet.
The presentation is one in a series of monthly city-wide meetings on crime prevention.
The Internet can be a wonderful thing, just as our highway system is wonderful for transporting goods and people. Once your child jumps on the Internet they are on a superhighway of information. Some of it is good, and some of it is not so good. Just as you wouldn’t let your child wander on the highway all alone, it is not a good idea to let him or her wander on the Internet, especially all by themselves.
According to the FBI, six out of 10 children online have gotten an e-mail or instant message from a perfect stranger, and more than half have written back. One in 33 kids has been aggressively solicited to meet their “cyber-friend” in person. One in four kids, ages 10-17, has been exposed to unwanted sexual material online.
Kids are naturally curious. It is easy for them to get enticed into an inappropriate relationship with an adult who may be a child molester.
Thirty million children use the Internet,” Alexander said. “There were 395 million websites one year ago.” Today there are more sites.
Alexander and Champaigne have received specialized training from the federal government on studying computers for forensic evidence. Alexander has a bachelor’s degree with a major in numerical and computational mathematics and a minor in applied computer science from the University of Minnesota, Duluth (UMD.)
“Computers contain a lot of evidence,” said Alexander. “A computer is like a book. When you delete a file it is like ripping out a page in the table of contents.” The chapter is still there. They have two shots at collecting the evidence.
One from the victim’s computer, and one from the perpetrator’s computer.
The two policemen started the presentation by using a laptop and a large movie screen to show the crowd photos of people. They asked the crowd to guess whether or not the person in the photo was a good guy or a bad guy. There is no way to tell by looking at a person’s photo on the web, or reading their screen name, whether they are good or bad. “You cannot tell by looking,” Alexander said. “We don’t know who we are talking to.”
Just recently a Superior man was arrested for attempting to meet a 13 year-old girl for sexual activity. Another Superior man, age 23, was chatting to a 13 year-old girl and sent her nude photos of himself. Not long ago a 56 year-old man working for the university was arrested for making arrangements to meet a teenager for sexual relations. He was caught because her parents notified the FBI.
During this community meeting people learned just how easy it is for a 13 year-old child to be lured into a sexual conversation on the Internet in a matter of minutes. The most dangerous places on the Internet are the chat rooms. A chat room is a space where about 50 people can talk to each other on the Internet. Your screen name is listed along with everyone else’s. Once people see who is in the room they can send a private message.
This presentation was open to adults only, and it didn’t take too long before the conversation turned uncomfortable for mixed company.
Within 30 minutes Alexander’s factious 13 year-old girl named “Ashley1993” had been asked numerous personal sexual questions. One person even gave her directions on how to search her computer for photos of her mom. He was hoping she had a nude photo. “Ashley” said she didn’t have any photos and her mom wouldn’t let her play with the camera. A few minutes later, he persisted by asking her if she had done a search within the computer. “Ashley” never was sexually suggestive and never initiated the questions.
Part of the agreement for the Superior policemen to receive the specialized training from the federal government was that they will give presentations to schools, staff, and parents. Please see the sidebar for information on Internet lingo and Internet safety for children.
After the presentation Raya, a high school student in Duluth, said, “I just think it is horrible what these guys say to these girls.” She has a Myspace account that she uses to correspond with her cousins. She has it set at private and her name and information can not be accessed by a search.
Raya’s mother, Debbie Letourneau, said she came to the presentation because, “When you have a 15 year-old daughter you have to be up to date.” She says of her daughter’s Myspace account, “I get to check it. I log on and talk to her friends.”
Diane Koranda, a social worker with St. Louis County, said she was surprised by the number of children who have computers in their bedrooms. She said computers and televisions should not be in children’s bedrooms. She said searching a child’s internet use is something that a parent must do.
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