One out of every five youths online is approached by an online sexual predator, with the integration of social networking; these numbers are alarmingly on the rise (Guo). In present day, it is nearly impossible to find someone who doesn’t at the very least know of social networks, so it is crucial that the general public know about the many negative effects these networks bring. It’s even more imperative that the public know that any existing or rising social networks are not to be trusted. Social networking could be considered negative for society as it provides sexual predators with opportunities, is a source for unhealthy addiction, and disconnects users from the real world. Generally, social networking provides online sexual predators with an easy gateway to youths. Users of online social media services tend to share copious amounts of personal information on online profiles, these same users control who can or cannot see their information by utilizing privacy settings. The problem with these “privacy settings” is that they are often hard to manipulate, leaving a multitude of online profiles vulnerable to often explicit offers from online sexual predators. Lacking the ability to protect their information properly, users are in jeopardy of being contacted by sexual predators. In fact, “[d]uring the years prior to the explosive expansion of social networks, most online sexual predators attempted to contact youths through chat rooms and message boards. In recent years, however, predators are increasingly targeting minors over social networking services”, showing that social networking directly puts youths in peril (Guo, 626). This sheds light on the fact that social networking is basically a way to herd youths and display them ... ... middle of paper ... ...fluence on society. Social media must be stopped before its disastrous effects reach a critical point, making social networking an actual threat to society as we know it. And much like a tapeworm, without proper elimination, social networking will continue to drain society until only a lifeless, anti-social husk remains. Next time you are online, be wary of the hazards social networking merrily offers. Works Cited Foulgers, Teresa. “Moral Spaces in MySpace: Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives about Ethical Issues in Social Networking.” Journal of Research on Technology in Education 2009: 16. Guo, Richard.”Stranger Danger and the Online Social Network.” Berkeley Technology Law Journal 2008, ed: 23:617. 626. Kuss, Daria. “Online Social Networking and Addiction- A Review of the Psychological Literature.” International Journal of Environmental Research 2011. 3535.
Social networking sites leave opportunities for vulnerability, however, I don’t believe many youths are an easy target. Using ethos, pathos and logos individuals can create their own reality to relate to the internet world who they think are and how they wish to be seen. In mediated publics such as Facebook and Instagram, the user has complete control of his or her profile and is the only one who can allow content about his/herself to be shared. It is my personal belief that as technology has evolved many people have taken to fabricating some truths here and there and omitting details to give an ideal representation of who they are without incriminating themselves or leaving themselves vulnerable for mistreatment. The fantasy of what is or could be is more desirable than reality. In the past few years, privacy settings have been adapted to cover the growing technological advances to keep users safe from online predators.
The publicity about online predators that prey on naive and inexperienced young children using trickery and violence is largely inaccurate. Internet sex crimes involving adults and juveniles more often fit a model of statutory rape which is adult offenders who meet, develop relationships with, and openly seduce underage teenagers than a model of forcible sexual assault or pedophilic child molesting (Wolak et. al., 2008). However, prepubescent children are even less vulnerable because their internet use is generally more supervised by the parents and guardian. In addition, they use the internet less for communication and are for developmental reasons, less interested in sex and relationships than adolescents.
Since being introduced in the 1990s, social networking sites have taken over people’s lives. From Facebook to Twitter and Snapchat to Instagram, these social networking sites are included in our day to day life. People use these sites to keep in touch with each other and the world. As a prominent fixture of our lives, social networking has a great influence over our opinions, decisions, and perspectives. Out of all its users, teenagers are the most susceptible to social networking’s influence; it can lead them to living an ethically right life that fosters learning and goodwill, or an ethically wrong life that encourages addictions and bad behavior.
In recent findings 75% of Europeans use the internet (Livingstone and Haddon, 2009) and 65% of the teenagers’ have a Face book or My Space account (Lenhart et al, 2008). Children find that having these accounts is a place for them to meet new people and have a feeling that they belong, and to expand their friendships, but it is also a place for pedophiles to attack especially because it is so easy to manipulate who, how and whey they want, this is where a parent needs to gain control and talk with their children about what can happen on these sties and watch for any warning signs that may appear example maybe their child is acting differently or they ask to meet someone that the parent has never heard about before, looking on computer and viewing what sites the child has entered are ways to catch these instances’ early. Research suggested that 25% of victims are boys who are gay or that are unsure of their sexuality and most of the offenders are
One of the main concerns in the world with the problem of child pornography is the new and improved online chat rooms. “As the world wide web becomes progressively easier to navigate, computer costs plummet and technology proliferates, and the intimate chat rooms of the internet become progressively more user-friendly and accessible to juveniles, serious problems are bound to occur” (Schultz 1). The problems in this topic of discussion are gradually increasing more and more each day. One of the main reasons for these problems increasing every day is the increase of technology in the society nowadays. The article, “On-line Vigilantes Hunt Pedophiles” states how catching predators in online chat rooms is really like and what the consequences are for the crimes (Schultz). The internet task force, also known as the Vigilante Website Perverted Justice, is able to catch these juveniles and criminals, such as criminal Ray Dooley. The officers in the internet task force faked to be a young fourteen-year-old girl, Rachel of Harper Woods and caught the man on sight of the crime, when trying to meet up with Rachel for sexual intercourse. I...
On the internet, pedophiles won’t have to worry about anyone spotting them or getting them in trouble with the law. Computer Crime Research Center mentions that “as more children sign online and become netizens, the potential for exploitation by offe...
The internet is a public place that people of all ages and race can access all of your information. Even though sites such as Facebook and Twitter have privacy settings, young users do not know how to enable these settings. Sexual predators can then access the young kids profile. They could access photos, wall posts and also contact them through personal message. Often these people lie about their ages, tell the kids what they want to hear then later asks to meet in person. This dangerous act can lead to rape, kidnapping and even murder. Most young girls look for people to love them and show them affection that they want. Older men know that girls are very vulnerable at ...
Social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, or Kik has become a popular way of making new friends or connecting with old friends. However, there is always a dark side to these sites, and it can turn out to be a nightmare for families across America when they have found out their child have become a victim of a child predator or cyber-bullying. These sites can be bait for predators that are targeting our uninformed youth daily. Every day somewhere in America a child predator gets arrested for child pornography or sexually abusing a minor. Parents should not only monitor their child’s behavior on social media sites, but they should also take a stand on age restriction 's laws on these sites and enforce safer sign up procedures because some parents
As the Internet keeps making new advancements, pedophiles around the world are becoming more successful. Access to the Internet is readily available anywhere, anytime, and almost anyplace. A growing number of people within the United States are attaining access to the Internet. Internet use within the United States is predicted to grow tremendously. This brings about a large problem for America’s youth. Children are very vulnerable and chat rooms seem to be the popular place for kids and pedophiles to hang out. This creates an on going problem. (Figures 1, 2, and 3 at bottom)
Social media can have detrimental effects on the formation of an adolescent’s identity such as social isolation meaning that the individual will spend excessive amounts of time attached to any electronics that will provide him with social media access. Social networking has been debated to have beneficial or detrimental effects, as overuse and abuse of the Internet can be harmful to someone, such as an adolescent. According to the National Crime Prevention Council, over one million teenage girls are victimized psychologically as well as physically, through social media.
Social media is so popular that according to a recent article published by forbes.com, “72% of American adults are currently using social media sites; that figure has gone up 800% in just 8 years”(Olenski). Social networking was originally created to simply reconnect people with old high school pals, but in recent years it has evolved into a completely different operation. When social media first originated it was also intended for adult usage, which has in recent years expanded into the usage of all ages. Social media can create a negative affect on lives because it has been proven to be a dangerous addiction, for it takes away interpersonal relationships that are essential in life, and it has been proven to prevent people from being productive in life.
Social media is described as content created and shared by individuals on the web using freely available websites that allow users to create and post their own images, video and text information and then share that with either the entire internet or just a select group of friends (Affilorama, 2012). They are more like a website allowing you to express your daily activities, beliefs, locations, likes, dislikes, photos, music, etc. They are used by creating a profile, and logging in through either the website, or apps now used on smartphones, or any portable device with Wi-Fi connection. Although most social media networks are directed towards adults and young adults, young children are getting into these websites as well. There are usually age limits but there isn’t a certainty that all the users provided their actual age, allowing whoever wants to be a member of these sites to bypass an age limit “security” procedure. Facebook and MySpace require users to be at least 13, but they have no practical way to verify ages, and many young users prete...
A large number of sexual predators are utilizing the Internet to prey on vulnerable children through chat rooms, social media and instant messages. Because of their immature and embryonic minds, most children develop a sense that sexual predators do not exist or that it will never happen to them. Sexual predators do exist and pose a real threat to children.
A sexual predator going after their kids is every parent’s worst nightmare, and frightens the heck out of most of them. When parents hear about their kid signing up for a Facebook account, most of them immediately think about their kid’s safety, regarding who is able to see their profile. Facebook has come a far way wit...
...fying internet information to be reported to the police. Their information is then added to the National Sex Offender Registry; social networking sites would then have access to this information and can prevent sex offenders from registering to use their sites MySpace has also begun to enact safety measures to protect their teenage users. In 2006 MySpace announced the creation an automated system that compares profiles a database contacting names and descriptions of sex offenders. It’s been reported that since the creation of this program MySpace has removed 29,000 sex offender profiles from their site (Guo 639). MySpace is also developing a program that will provide parents with their child’s profile name, age, and location (Guo 639). A program like this will allow parents to also get involved in protecting their children from the dangers of social networking.