By spending time on social networks, such as Facebook and Myspace, they leave themselves open to privacy issues, identity theft, scams and more (Allen, 2015). Teens are more likely to fall victim to this. In a worse case situation, children have become victims of pedophiles, or have been persuaded to meet a stranger somewhere without their parent's knowledge and unfortunately disappear. .
A recent study from the American Psychological Association found some interesting results about the statistics of Internet predators and today's youth. They found that the majority of Internet predators do not pose as children as the previous start of the Internet predator stereotype was perceived. The Internet predators openly tell their age and their intentions and kids openly talk to them about their own sexual wishes (Gersten, 2010).
In the past, the thought was that the Internet predators were fooling teenagers into thinking they were talking to a kid their own age. The statistics of this study shows that teenagers are knowingly chatting to adults. Yes, it is a very brave new world, a world where our children still need to be protected from their curiosity. Of course, children do not tell their parents whom they are chatting with, so how are parents supposed know who their kids are chatting with on the Internet? With the introduction of Facebook and the other thousands of social networking and chat sites on the Internet, danger is only a click away. The Internet predators are out there and kids are willingly chatting with them (Starr, 2000).
Hacking, cyberbullying, sexting, chatrooms, and gaming are just a few ways one can become an Internet victim. In order to keep kids safe, parents will need to know about the different types of online dangers that exist. For example, kids and teens may find inappropriate content on the Internet, such as pornography or X-rated language. There is also a possibility of cyberbullying or cyber-harassment from others online.
