14 DAY TRIAL // A new scientific study, conducted by researchers at Harvard University, has found out that children are not severely endangered online, and that the risks of them being picked up by an adult and dragged into dangerous conversations and actions are fairly similar to those the young ones are subjected to daily, in real life. However, the authors say that parents should continue to be extremely attentive to what their children are doing online, and must swiftly and promptly address all issues that arise.
The research has also found that teens who are experiencing problems at home are also more likely than others to fall into the hands of Internet “predators.” The same holds true for kids engaged in dangerous and risky activities, such as drug and alcohol consumption. They are also more prone to falling victims to soliciting, either to get money, or simply for the fun of it.
“These solicitations occur every day. Just because the kids are high-risk anyway doesn't make it not a problem,” retired FBI agent Jeff Lanza, who is also an Internet safety expert, says.
He urges parents to read the report fully, and not let things get out of hand after reading just portions of the report. Lanza points the finger at various local and national US newspapers, which have covered the Harvard study, calling headlines such as “Report calls online threats to children overblown” misleading and confusing.
“The message of this shouldn't be, 'All is well, I shouldn't pay attention, I shouldn't monitor what my kids are doing.' I think what the report attempts to say is the nature of this problem is different than the general public perception,” the president of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Ernie Allen, argues.
More than 41,000 incidents involving children have been registered in the country since 1998, and the phenomenon could be far more widespread, authorities caution. Over the years, the police has set up numerous sting operations online, luring men who thought they were talking to little girls in traps and arresting them. Various TV stations have done reality shows on the theme, such as NBC's To Catch a Predator.
“What I think is, the 'Catch a Predator' phenomenon, that was pure showbiz. And to a certain extent, maybe that caused the pendulum to swing too far in one direction about the nature of the problem,” Lanza explains. “We've made real progress. But parental awareness and education remains important," Allen concludes.