Internet Predators and their Prey

by Katherine Ramsey

Kids who use Internet sites like Myspace.com often want a place of their own, where they can exercise self-expression and a bit of independence. What they don’t seem to realize is that they’re as vulnerable in such places as sheep to wolves — and often just as oblivious to the danger. They may think they’ve having a great time communicating on blogs and meeting new friends, but prowling among them are men who mean to use them for self-gratification, and perhaps even to harm or kill them. Even seemingly safe places can attract evil, and not just from adults.

In the June 17, 2006, issue of Science News, Bruce Bower examined “Growing up Online.” He opened by describing a conversation between kids who like to mutilate themselves with cutting instruments, who compared the pros and cons of cutting devices that went deep but did not hurt. “It rapidly becomes evident,” he says, “that this is not idle electronic chatter.” In fact, there are more than four hundred sites online for “cutters,” and it’s obvious that Internet meeting places can offer kids more than just a social outlet. They can support each other but they can also push each other into negative behaviors.

The Internet has become a viable place for adolescents to seek support among their peers, especially when they have a difficult time making friends where they live and go to school. Sometimes they can assist one another, as on peer counseling sites, but other times they merely point out ways to maintain and even deepen self-destructive behavior. Children have “aggressively colonized” certain spaces on the ‘Net, Bower, points out, and unless parents are monitoring closely, kids can make connections that may not be in their best interests. But they usually don’t realize that

Abdullah Jimzawi

In June 2006, Katherine Lester, from Michigan, ran off to the Middle East to meet a man who had contacted her in the Myspace.com site. Only sixteen at the time, she was on her way to Tel Aviv, Israel, to join twenty-year-old Abdullah Jimzawi when authorities intercepted her in Jordan. They sent her back home, where she faced a hearing in court. Judge Wallace Kent Jr. ordered her to surrender her passport and go to counseling. She agreed.

 Lester and her father going to court.

The two had interacted on the Web site, falling in love and making plans for Lester to convert to Islam and leave the U.S. But Jimzawi clearly wasn’t thinking clearly; he still lived with his parents, was a high-school dropout, and had no way to support them. Lester, too, was too young to understand what she faced. But hers is a story with a relatively happy ending for her family. Other young people have fallen prey to predators who have no intent to marry them or otherwise assist them in life.

ALSO..

Christina Long, thirteen, was an honor student and cheerleader in Connecticut, writes Edward Baig for USA Today. She liked to meet strangers from the Internet and eventually one of these encounters ended with her death. Other girls have been raped and otherwise damaged by men who seek to conquer one young victim after another

Most people think “Not my kid”, unfortunately this could happen to anyone!Lets take precautions measures when allowing our young impressionable youth to serf the Internet !

Get Your Kids

Helpful information and tips for prevention

WHERE DO PREDATORS LURK?

Cyber offenders, says forensic psychiatrist Michael McGrath, generally target multiple victims, and they’re looking for low self-esteem, family troubles, kids uncertain of their sexuality, and other issues common to adolescents. These predators will go where they are likely to encounter a large pool of kids. Sometimes they will pose as adults who offer kids a “mentoring” relationship; other times they act as kids the same age as their contactee. With the Internet, they can achieve a faster sense of intimacy than they can face to face, because they can use clever phrases to convince a kid they actually care. Officers who understand the various Internet tools these offenders use to “groom” potential victims (gain their trust and gradually seduce them) are better pre[pared for finding and stopping them.

WARNING SIGNS:

Investigators and psychologists who specialize in Internet predation offer a series of red flags for parents to be aware of, such as

• gifts sent to a child from someone the parents do not know
• phone calls from unknown adults for the child;
• a child who spends a lot of time online but doesn’t say much about it
• a child who tried to hide what he or she is doing online
• a child who begins to behave different, especially more aggressively.

PREVENTION

To ensure their child’s safety, parents must set up clear rules about Internet use and remain firm, engage in regular periods of monitoring, keep open communication with children, and discuss Internet dangers. There will still be enticements for children determined to defy their parents or try something “dangerous,” but other kids, when educated, may be deterred.

 The fact is, sexual aggression is a persistent crime, and predators have found a viable avenue with the Internet for finding vulnerable children. Travelers are determined to satisfy their needs, but they will avoid children who clearly are protected and look for easier targets.