Are Parents Clueless About Child Predators on the internet?

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Child Predators Online
In today's world, personal technological devices are seemingly impossible to live without; but like any addiction, there are dreadful side effects. By the time a child reaches the age of 6 or 7, they have already been exposed to frequent technology use by their parents, older siblings, and often use a device of their own. As a result of this, they believe that the computer is a safe haven, so they go to their computers. Since children keep technological secrets, pedophiles, or internet child predators, are ubiquitous, and parents do not spend enough time with their children, parents are clueless about child predators on the Internet.
One of the reasons children are endangered is that they keep secrets about their online activities and parents are unaware of what sites their children are visiting. YouTube, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and other popular social networking sites have an age limit of 13, but that does not stop inquisitive children (Rossman, “Tweens’ Secret Lives Online”). Preteens often create a false date of birth in order to get an account. Some parents are okay with this, thinking this helps their child foster an interest in business or music. Often, this is not the case. If a young child states that he or she is, in fact, thirteen or fourteen, then by the time that child reaches that age in several years, the computer or website will think they are eighteen or twenty, and begin allowing inappropriate ads to come up on their account.
In her news article “Children have secret online life,” Susie O’Brien states that, “…it’s an imperative, not a choice, to have a mobile phone, to be always on Facebook, to be always sending and responding to text messages.” This proves the sad fact ...

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...uld You Worry?” Screenretriever. Inizio Creative. 12 Mar 2012. Internet. 10 November 2013.
McCann, Jaymi. “No time for the family? You are not alone: Parents and children spend less than an hour with each other every day because of modern demands.” MailOnline. Associated Newspapers LTD. 14 July 2013. Internet. 11 November 2013.
O’Brien, Susie. “Children have secret online life.” The Herald Sun. News LTD. 08 February 2013. Internet. 9 November 2013.
“Online Predators: The Online Threat Continues to Grow.” The Federal Bureau of Investigation. U.S. Government, U.S. Department of Justice. 17 May 2011. Internet. 11 November 2013.
Rosman, Katherine. “Tweens’ Secret Lives Online.” The Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. 1 May 2012. Internet. 9 November 2013.
“Spend More Time With Teens… Not Money.” Secureteen. SecureTeen. 26 August 2013. Internet. 11 November 2013.

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