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The Internet can be a forbidding place.  Generally speaking the internet is the world's largest source of information and entertainment with over 250 million users world-wide and growing exponentially.  It can amuse people for hours and provides the world's largest source of information for research for school, business and home.  But it has its dangers!  Like a large city, it has places where caution is the watchword and care has to be taken to avoid being victimized.  This page should be considered standard reading for parents of young children who have access to the internet.  The information provided here is not intended to scare users but rather to encourage RESPONSIBLE use of the Internet.

Internet Crime

Research by law enforcement agencies tend to show that use of the Internet by criminals is growing dramatically.  Typical crimes committed on the Internet include, but are not limited to, Theft, Fraud, Conspiracy, Pyramid Schemes, Chain Letters, Extortion, Hate Crimes and Sex Offences including Child Pornography. In fact the most prevalent topic to be found on the Internet is sex in virtually every form.  Because the Internet spans international boundaries, there is no single 'owner' of the internet and web-sites that may be considered illegal in some countries continue to exist because the country of origin is more permissive.  That does not mean that you the consumer cannot take action if you believe a crime has been committed on the Internet or you have been victimized through the Internet.  Your first course of action is to report the matter to your local police who are in the best position to advise you.

How Severe is the Problem?

For the most part people believe that they are anonymous while on the Internet.  This cannot be further from the truth.  The greatest majority of web-sites use 'cookies' to track a visitors actions while visiting a site.  Some cookies can provide the web-site owner with information such as your e-mail address and IP address. ( Please note that this web-site is "cookie-free").

Consider the following statistics gleaned from a recent study by the United States Department of Justice where 1501 youths aged 10-17 years were interviewed:

	1 in 5 reported that they had received sexual solicitation over the Internet.
	1 in 33 reported that the solicitation was aggressive.  In this context aggressive means that they were asked to meet somewhere, were contacted by telephone, or were sent mail which may have  included money and/or gifts.
	1 in 4 were exposed to unwanted sexually explicit pictures.
	1 in 17 felt that they were harassed or threatened.
	Less than 10% of the sexual solicitations were reported to authorities.
	Less than 3% of the unwanted exposure to explicit pictures were reported to authorities.
	Only 1 in 3 home computers had any protective software installed.
	In Canada, an A.C. Neilsen study conducted in 2000 revealed that 57% of the Canadian population of an age over 12 years use the Internet.
	An Industry Canada Study, also completed in 2000, showed that 53% of parents claimed that they provide a "great deal" of supervision. However, the children advised that they were subjected to little or no supervision.  One has to ask if that is because parents have a false sense of security with the web.

Some More Statistics

	A task force in New England conducted a Joint Forces Project between 1997 and 2000.  This investigation led to over 200 offenders from 40 states and 12 different countries being arrested.  The investigation also yielded the following:
	Over 2 Million child pornography images were seized.
	The mean average age of the offenders was 35.7 years.
	41% were known to have had access to children.
	Only 12% had a prior arrest record for a sex crime.
	71.5% had no prior contact with police.
	24% were known to be travellers, that is to say they were willing to drive great distances to make contact with their intended victim
	The offenders rationalize that the sexual encounter was mutually desirable by the victim.
	Many offenders will use blackmail or coercion to effect their purpose. For example, through discussion with their intended victim on-line, they will attempt to learn something about the victim that the victim may be ashamed of or hiding from the parents.  The offender then threatens the victim with disclosure if they do not do certain things.

According to a recent feature on the A & E Channel, over 5,000 Internet sites distribute and/or advocate child pornography.

How Contact Is Made

One of the easiest ways for contact with young children and teenagers is the use of "Chat Rooms."  Most people log-on using a "handle' or nickname and believe that they are anonymous and many children (and adults) will create an alter-ego for themselves.  They will change their age, their sex, pretend they live in a different City or State etc.   But once in the chat room and over a course of several sessions they will let little things slip about themselves and the ever-patient offender gradually builds a profile of the child. 

Notwithstanding that people use nicknames in chat rooms and create alter-egos, it is surprising that many of these same people believe what the other person has described about themselves.  Younger people especially tend to believe what the other person tells them.  This is the danger!  A person in the chat room may describe themselves as a happy eleven year old girl from Somewhere, USA, who collects popular music and so on.  In reality this person may well be a predator who knows the right things to say to get a young child's attention.

What You Can Do

Place your computer in a high traffic area accessible by the whole family.   This way it is much less likely that your children will explore into forbidden areas. Putting a computer in a child's room is not recommended.

Set time limits  and guidelines on your child's access to the Internet.

Know what your child is doing on the Internet - sites visited, chat rooms, messenger services being used and so on.

Monitor the sites visited while on line.  This is easy to check.  For Internet Explorer, open Windows Explorer and open the file folder c:\windows\temporary internet files.  This directory will list the sites visited and the date and time of the visit.  For Netscape open the folder c:\program files\netscape\users\your profile name\cache.  The cache file typically stores images along with the date and time it was downloaded.  You can also view the 'history' log which keeps track of the last sites visited. 

Instruct your child on how to behave while on the Internet.  This includes telling them that under no circumstances are they to reveal any personal information such as name, age, sex, phone number, where they live (even the name of the city should not be given), what school they got to, who their friends are and so on.  They also should not reveal any information about their parents as internet predators can use that information as a starting point.

Never agree to meet someone that you 'meet' while on the Internet.  If you are an adult, and you really do want to meet, make sure that you meet in a public place and take a friend along.

Never send pictures of you, your family, your house or your friends.  Do not accept any pictures either.  Tell your child that if someone sends them a picture to tell you about it.

Do Not respond to any e-mail that does not ring true or sound right.  Trust your instincts if the message causes you to feel uncormfortable.  Note that free e-mail services are available through a variety of web services, the most popular being 'Hotmail.'  It is common for children to subscribe to this type of service as it gives them a sense of independence and it is the 'in thing' for kids.

Always remember that the person at the other end while online is a stranger, they may not be who they say they are.

Teach your child not to send rude or inflammatory messages while online.  This is referred to as 'flaming' and is not considered good etiquette or 'Netiquette' as it is referred to on the Internet.  In fact many service providers have a 'rules of conduct' policy, violation of which may result in your Internet service being disconnected.

Encourage the use of a codename or 'handle' as it is commonly called.  This rule is in keeping with the missive to not reveal any personal information.

Set your browser to not accept cookies.  This can be a bit of a problem because as pointed out earlier the majority of sites use cookies, many of them for legitimate purposes.  In Internet Explorer go to tools/internet options/security then for each level of trust you can set to allow, disallow, or prompt for cookies.  By default Internet Explorer accepts all cookies.  In Netscape go to edit/preferences and click on 'privacy & security.'  The problem you will encounter if you set 'prompt for cookies' is that with their prevalent use you will continually be barraged with pop-up boxes asking if you want to accept the cookie.  This can be annoying!

Change passwords often.  Do not use easy to guess passwords.  Many sites allow special characters (numbers and shift key/number).  If these are permitted break up words with special characters. e.g. instead of 'turnip' use 'tu@rn4ip%'.

Use filtering software.  There are many programs available that restrict access to sites containing offensive material.  Some programs are better than others and many allow password access so that you can limit your child's access but you can still browse all sites.  This may sound hypocritical, however you may wish to access a site that contains a restricted word or phrase.  For example, you or your child may wish to research a certain animal.  If the site contains the word 'sex' and this word is set as one of your filters you will not be able to access the site even though it may contain legitimate material.  This is where the 'adult' feature can override the filter and permit you access so that you or your child can continue your research.  Below are some suggested filtering programs that you may wish to explore.  You can also visit tucows' website for even more selections. You should also be aware that these type of utilities require some customization to ensure unwanted material is kept out and that some sites that you wish to visit may be blocked.

Report any unwanted intrusion or suspect material to the local police.

Filtering Software

Cybersitter for Windows 95/98. This program filters out unwanted sites if you have young people who access the Internet. This version is a time limited shareware version and expires after 10 days. Full versions can be obtained from their website.  NOTE: if you have Windows 95 you will have to update the Windows Socket.  Download the socket upgrade patch here.

Web Child 2.0 This program is shareware and allows you to have control over what content your child is exposed to while on the Internet. Visit their website for more information.

Watchdog 4.0 This is a 30-day free trial shareware program so you can try it before determining if you wish to purchase it.  It will block unwanted websites.  Visit their website for purchase and other information.

Web-Blocker 2.0 This is freeware and a fully customizable program to allow parents to block sites, monitor activity and assign passwords for each family member.  Visit their website for more information.

Other Parental guidance / filtering software also available at the Tucows website here.

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