Published on January 21st, 2016 | by Guest

How Online Predators Threaten our Children – an Infographic

When our children were small we could protect them by baby proofing our homes. It was rather simple, just adding a few plastic fasteners or outlet covers gave you peace of mind. Fast forward about twelve years and the task of keeping our kids safe suddenly requires new tactics and techniques that can’t be found during a trip to the hardware store. As our young teens join the digital world, they suddenly are exposed to a myriad of unseen pitfalls lurking behind the soft glow of their devices.

The Online Predator Threat

A common foe scouring the Internet and social media is an online predator. While it’s easy to convince ourselves that our children won’t fall prey to their tactics, the numbers tell us otherwise. It is estimated that 500,000 sexual predators are logged online daily, actively looking for opportunities to groom or victimize our sons and daughters..

Predators love the anonymity and social atmosphere our children’s devices provide. For parents this can be especially jaw dropping, when we consider the fact that 70 percent of adolescents hide online activity from the adults in their life. This can make our job of protecting our children difficult, because technology makes it all too easy to cover digital trails and provocative messages.

Understanding Digital Dangers

We can no longer ignore the new threats facing our kids, because online predators, cyberbullies, and sexting teens have the potential to cause serious emotional harm. Children who experience these situations often have increased rates of depression, attempted suicide rates, and lifelong physical ailments linked to stress and depression. To avoid these negative outcomes, it is essential that parents are actively involved when it comes to our child’s technology use.

Children and young teens need to develop a skill set to help them learn how to protect themselves in an increasing digital world. That requires us to be aware and informed about the dangers trolling online. We need to encourage our kids to practice social media etiquette and learn methods to keep their personal data safe.

For more details about online predators and practical tips for dealing with technology, please check out the following information: