by Sharon Jacobsen

The Internet is the most amazing tool the

world has ever seen. Information of all

kinds is just a few clicks away, accessed

from the comfort of our own homes. We can

buy, sell, make friends and gain knowledge.

However, there is an unfortunate downside.

Pornography is freely available on the

Internet, and although the serious players

will go to certain lengths to ensure that

minors aren't able to access their sites,

it's still far too easy for anybody, of any

age, to gain access to pornographic or

illegal material.

Whilst we have to accept that a large

percentage of Internet users DO want to

access pornography, there is an equally

large percentage of parents who DO NOT want

their children viewing this material. Some

may feel that nudity, when presented in a

proper fashion, is acceptable, but there are

images out there that portray every possible

sex act imaginable, from straight

intercourse to bestiality (sex with animals)

and, most worrying, child pornography.

What are the risks?

• Adult and child pornography, the latter

of which is illegal, can be extremely

graphic, violent and desensitising. An

innocent keyword typed into a search engine

or the misspelling of a Web site's name can

lead children (and adults) into sites that

are shocking and often difficult to leave

(some sites automatically reopen themselves

every time you try to leave.

• It's not uncommon that pornography sites

name and describe their site as something

innocuous to entice people onto the site

under false pretences. At the moment it's

popular for them to "hide behind" MP3 sites.

(I've ventured onto a few of them myself)

• Porn sites are not the only ones that use

misleading content information to increase

visitors. Other sites, such as hate groups,

cults, and weapons related sites also use

deceptive and aggressive strategies to

entice people onto their sites. These sites

can include bomb making formulas, web pages

that glorify violence, and recruiting venues

for groups that want to convince children to

help further their causes.

• Paedophiles exploit the anonymity that

the Internet provides and often reside in

chat-rooms and other interactive areas

frequented by children, where they look for

unassuming kids with whom they can cultivate

a relationship, giving false information as

to their identity. If a chat-room friend

say's that he's 14, how can your kids be

sure that he's not 34? They can't! These

predators often send alarming requests and

transmit graphic pictures and information.

• Email addresses can be gathered up by

those who are looking to market their sites

aggressively. There are two main ways that

this is done.

- indexed by robots from interactive

sites. If your child uses sites which

display email addresses, whether it be

competitions, guestbooks, discussion forums,

pen-friend sites, etc.

- you recieve an email announcing that you

can take part in a competition. To enter the

competition you must forward the mail to X

amount of people, plus the sender. More

often than not, this is a scam to collect

email addresses.

Be sure to check your child's mail

regularly and explain that they must NEVER

visit a site directly from an email without

your consent.

So how can I avoid this?

Quite simply, it's impossible to completely

control what your child might see on the

Internet. Even when surfing with your child,

you may well end up on an unsavoury site. I

was helping my daughter and her friends look

for Britney Spears on the web. We typed in

the appropriate keywords on a search engine,

received a list of sites and started to

click. One site we entered was NOT Britney

Spears, but pornography! Luckily, it wasn't

too hard-core, but it may well have been.

And I then had the job of explaining the

other kid's parent's, how they got to see

pornography from my computer. That said,

there are a few things you can do to make it

less likely that your child will be viewing

unwanted material.

• Explain to your children the potential

online dangers and how to avoid them.

• Monitor the amount of time they spend

online, in the same way you would monitor

their television viewing. Make sure they

spend time with their "real world" friends

and have outdoor activities to enjoy.

• Keep the computer in the living area,

where you can monitor online activity. Don't

allow your child to surf from the privacy of

his/her bedroom.

• Password-protect your Internet access,

and do not let your children have access

without your permission.

• Ask your child to tell you if they should

experience something that they don't feel

comfortable with.

• Have a regular routine of checking the

history files on your computer to see where

everyone has been surfing. And make sure

your family knows you're checking.

• Explain the dangers of using their real

name when sending email to people they do

not know, or when participating in chat-

rooms or other interactive areas of

websites. Encourage them to use "fun" names

instead. A report by the Annenberg Public

Policy Center showed that children online

are very likely to give out information to

marketers over the Web, especially when

enticed with a free gift.

• Explain that people they meet online are

not always who they say they are.

• Encourage your children to tell you about

their online friends. Try to get to know

them yourselves, just the way you would with

their "real world" friends.

• Install filtering software, such at Net

Nanny (http://www.netnanny.com), Cyber

Patrol (http://www.cyberpatrol.com) or

CYBERsitter (http://www.solidoak.com/). This

will enable you to monitor more closely what

is coming into the computer, and also, what

you want ALLOWED into the computer. However,

don't rely completely upon this type of

software, as they are far from foolproof.

What can we do to stop illegal activity on

the Net?

It's a little to idealistic to believe that

we will ever be able to stop it. The

Internet is just like the real world. There

will always be those who are going to

exploit the Net and it's users. But unless

we are willing to accept the Internet

becoming a society of predators where sexual

gratification is the rule and the weak and

trusting children become subject to it, we

have to fight it!

Pornographic sites that allow access

without age verification

• Send an email to the owner of the site

asking them to consider restriction. Be

polite and explain why you are concerned.

• If you're very concerned, you might also

report it to your local police.

Sites promoting illegal activity

• Contact your local police, giving the

address of the site, and any other relevant

information that you may have.

Child Pornography

Undoubtedly, this is something that

everybody (with the exception of the

paedophile's themselves) want's to see

stopped! Sadly, child pornography flourishes

on the Net and you'd probably be amazed at

how easy it is to find. Infact, it's easier

to find child porn than to find where to

report it! How backward is that?

Not only is child porn available on the

World Wide Web, but also through IRQ and

Newgroups. We are talking about children as

young as 1 or 2 years old being sexually

exploited by grown men. Pictures of bruised

and abused children, forced to perform all

kinds of sexual acts. There are thousands

upon thousands of children being abused this

way. Some of them may very well be kids from

our own neighbourhoods, enticed into

situations they were unable to control or

resolve. Paedophiles can be found anywhere,

it any social group, and so can their

victims!

If you come across any child pornography on

the Internet, PLEASE REPORT IT at

InternetWatch

(http://www.internetwatch.org.uk/hotline/hotl

ine.html)

If you are a parent who believes that

somebody is soliciting your child online,

report it to your local police.

Finally, I'd just like to say that although

this article may scare off some parents from

allowing their children to use the Net, if

you act in a responsible manner, the

likelihood of them coming into danger is

decreased, whereas the likelihood of them

gaining valuable knowledge is huge!

Happy surfing!

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Sharon Jacobsen is editor/owner of WeWomen.co.uk

(http://www.wewomen.co.uk)  - a portal and

community for women in the UK. The site offers

articles, web-picks, discussions, polls, ecards

and lots more.

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