Good information! This is scary stuff, but the media does a good job of informing parents and users of the potential danger online. My sister uses myspace and she has had strangers try and get in touch with her - shes 15. This is a good use of the media to help users be prepared and aware of crime, danger or problems online!
It is scary! However, is this story a true depiction of what is happening out there? Are we facing an epidemic of cyber stalkers? As we discussed in class on Monday, child sexual offenders are usually adults children are familiar with, such as family members, neighbors, or friends. Check out this article, and you may change your mind!
NY TIMES Report Calls Online Threats to Children Overblown
By BRAD STONE Published: January 13, 2009 The Internet may not be such a dangerous place for children after all.
A task force created by 49 state attorneys general to look into the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a significant problem.
The findings ran counter to popular perceptions of online dangers as reinforced by depictions in the news media like NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” series. One attorney general was quick to criticize the group’s report.
The panel, the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, was charged with examining the extent of the threats children face on social networks like MySpace and Facebook, amid widespread fears that adults were using these popular Web sites to deceive and prey on children.
But the report concluded that the problem of bullying among children, both online and offline, poses a far more serious challenge than the sexual solicitation of minors by adults.
“This shows that social networks are not these horribly bad neighborhoods on the Internet,” said John Cardillo, chief executive of Sentinel Tech Holding, which maintains a sex offender database and was part of the task force. “Social networks are very much like real-world communities that are comprised mostly of good people who are there for the right reasons.”
The 278-page report, released Tuesday, was the result of a year of meetings between dozens of academics, experts in childhood safety and executives of 30 companies, including Yahoo, AOL, MySpace and Facebook.
The task force, led by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, looked at scientific data on online sexual predators and found that children and teenagers were unlikely to be propositioned by adults online. In the cases that do exist, the report said, teenagers are typically willing participants and are already at risk because of poor home environments, substance abuse or other problems.
Not everyone was happy with the conclusions. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, who has forcefully pursued the issue and helped to create the task force, said he disagreed with the report. Mr. Blumenthal said it “downplayed the predator threat,” relied on outdated research and failed to provide a specific plan for improving the safety of social networking.
“Children are solicited every day online,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “Some fall prey, and the results are tragic. That harsh reality defies the statistical academic research underlying the report.”
In what social networks may view as something of an exoneration after years of pressure from law enforcement, the report said sites like MySpace and Facebook “do not appear to have increased the overall risk of solicitation.”
Attorneys general like Mr. Blumenthal and Roy Cooper of North Carolina publicly accused the social networks of facilitating the activities of pedophiles and pushed them to adopt measures to protect their youngest users. Citing studies that showed tens of thousands of convicted sex offenders were using MySpace, they pressured the networks to purge those people from their membership databases.
The attorneys general also charged the task force with evaluating technologies that might play a role in enhancing safety for children online. An advisory board composed of academic computer scientists and forensics experts was created within the task force to look at technologies and ask companies in the industry to submit their child-protection systems.
Among the systems the technology board looked at included age verification technologies that try to authenticate the identities and ages of children and prevent adults from contacting them. But the board concluded that such systems “do not appear to offer substantial help in protecting minors from sexual solicitation.”
One problem is that it is difficult to verify the ages and identities of children because they do not have driver’s licenses or insurance.
This really is craziness! It's sad to think that people have been and will be hurt by predators via the internet. It's creepy when someone you know brings up something from your facebook/myspace. I can't imagine how many other creeps are out there looking at our info...
This is really scary! So many young children do not understand the danger that posting their personal information entails. It's really scary to think of the number of predators that are out there!
I think the comments here really express a widespread sentiment.. namely that stalking and predators on the internet is a real problem, and one that we need to really worry about.
One thing that we'll be focusing on throughout this course is how the media focuses on some crimes to the exclusion of others. Last week we started to think about the fantasies and myths that exist around crime, and the gulf between reality and myth. The internet predator is very much one of those contemporary folk devils... the risk over-exaggerated, our fear out of proportion. This clip is a great example of how the media represents very rare crimes, but in a way which makes them seem very common indeed.
One of the results of this is that we tend to ignore who kids really are at risk from.
It is really scary to think about sex offenders creeping on younger teens/preteens. However, the problem of bullying seems more real to me. I had problems when I was younger of girls in my grade using myspace and instant messenger to bully me. I also know friends that have had this happen to them too. My sister was a victim of online bullying. It got so bad that she didn't want to go to school. I think that this is a more real to teens than sex offenders.
So I know that I am a little late on this post. But watching this video definitely made me think about the information I have posted on my myspace. It is scary to think about people stalking me though the internet. But I do believe that this is a rare occurence and that it takes more than putting your information online. I think that the people that are abducted through online predators have had interactions with these people online. Parents should be telling their children not to talk to strangers online as well as in person because both are dangerous. The article shows that online predators may be scary but are way less prevalent than thought.
Good information!
ReplyDeleteThis is scary stuff, but the media does a good job of informing parents and users of the potential danger online. My sister uses myspace and she has had strangers try and get in touch with her - shes 15. This is a good use of the media to help users be prepared and aware of crime, danger or problems online!
It is scary! However, is this story a true depiction of what is happening out there? Are we facing an epidemic of cyber stalkers? As we discussed in class on Monday, child sexual offenders are usually adults children are familiar with, such as family members, neighbors, or friends. Check out this article, and you may change your mind!
ReplyDeleteNY TIMES
Report Calls Online Threats to Children Overblown
By BRAD STONE
Published: January 13, 2009
The Internet may not be such a dangerous place for children after all.
A task force created by 49 state attorneys general to look into the problem of sexual solicitation of children online has concluded that there really is not a significant problem.
The findings ran counter to popular perceptions of online dangers as reinforced by depictions in the news media like NBC’s “To Catch a Predator” series. One attorney general was quick to criticize the group’s report.
The panel, the Internet Safety Technical Task Force, was charged with examining the extent of the threats children face on social networks like MySpace and Facebook, amid widespread fears that adults were using these popular Web sites to deceive and prey on children.
But the report concluded that the problem of bullying among children, both online and offline, poses a far more serious challenge than the sexual solicitation of minors by adults.
“This shows that social networks are not these horribly bad neighborhoods on the Internet,” said John Cardillo, chief executive of Sentinel Tech Holding, which maintains a sex offender database and was part of the task force. “Social networks are very much like real-world communities that are comprised mostly of good people who are there for the right reasons.”
The 278-page report, released Tuesday, was the result of a year of meetings between dozens of academics, experts in childhood safety and executives of 30 companies, including Yahoo, AOL, MySpace and Facebook.
The task force, led by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard University, looked at scientific data on online sexual predators and found that children and teenagers were unlikely to be propositioned by adults online. In the cases that do exist, the report said, teenagers are typically willing participants and are already at risk because of poor home environments, substance abuse or other problems.
Not everyone was happy with the conclusions. Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general, who has forcefully pursued the issue and helped to create the task force, said he disagreed with the report. Mr. Blumenthal said it “downplayed the predator threat,” relied on outdated research and failed to provide a specific plan for improving the safety of social networking.
“Children are solicited every day online,” Mr. Blumenthal said. “Some fall prey, and the results are tragic. That harsh reality defies the statistical academic research underlying the report.”
In what social networks may view as something of an exoneration after years of pressure from law enforcement, the report said sites like MySpace and Facebook “do not appear to have increased the overall risk of solicitation.”
Attorneys general like Mr. Blumenthal and Roy Cooper of North Carolina publicly accused the social networks of facilitating the activities of pedophiles and pushed them to adopt measures to protect their youngest users. Citing studies that showed tens of thousands of convicted sex offenders were using MySpace, they pressured the networks to purge those people from their membership databases.
The attorneys general also charged the task force with evaluating technologies that might play a role in enhancing safety for children online. An advisory board composed of academic computer scientists and forensics experts was created within the task force to look at technologies and ask companies in the industry to submit their child-protection systems.
Among the systems the technology board looked at included age verification technologies that try to authenticate the identities and ages of children and prevent adults from contacting them. But the board concluded that such systems “do not appear to offer substantial help in protecting minors from sexual solicitation.”
One problem is that it is difficult to verify the ages and identities of children because they do not have driver’s licenses or insurance.
This really is craziness! It's sad to think that people have been and will be hurt by predators via the internet. It's creepy when someone you know brings up something from your facebook/myspace. I can't imagine how many other creeps are out there looking at our info...
ReplyDeleteThis is really scary! So many young children do not understand the danger that posting their personal information entails. It's really scary to think of the number of predators that are out there!
ReplyDeleteGreat points, Emily...
ReplyDeleteI think the comments here really express a widespread sentiment.. namely that stalking and predators on the internet is a real problem, and one that we need to really worry about.
One thing that we'll be focusing on throughout this course is how the media focuses on some crimes to the exclusion of others. Last week we started to think about the fantasies and myths that exist around crime, and the gulf between reality and myth. The internet predator is very much one of those contemporary folk devils... the risk over-exaggerated, our fear out of proportion. This clip is a great example of how the media represents very rare crimes, but in a way which makes them seem very common indeed.
One of the results of this is that we tend to ignore who kids really are at risk from.
Great comments, guys!
It is really scary to think about sex offenders creeping on younger teens/preteens. However, the problem of bullying seems more real to me. I had problems when I was younger of girls in my grade using myspace and instant messenger to bully me. I also know friends that have had this happen to them too. My sister was a victim of online bullying. It got so bad that she didn't want to go to school. I think that this is a more real to teens than sex offenders.
ReplyDeleteSo I know that I am a little late on this post. But watching this video definitely made me think about the information I have posted on my myspace. It is scary to think about people stalking me though the internet. But I do believe that this is a rare occurence and that it takes more than putting your information online. I think that the people that are abducted through online predators have had interactions with these people online. Parents should be telling their children not to talk to strangers online as well as in person because both are dangerous. The article shows that online predators may be scary but are way less prevalent than thought.
ReplyDelete