What does a predator look like?
- Male
- Seductive
- Introverted
- Sadistic
- Sexually indiscriminate
This is the thing, you don't know what they look like. They could be anyone. But instead of being paranoid about every strange male you meet, educate your kids on whats normal behavior and whats not. Be their source for solutions; don't be the one they run from when things at home are tough.
Their Method of Operating:
First you have to understand that kids in social networking, blogs, chat rooms, instant messaging, e-mail, discussion boards, and other Web sites are easy targets.
Some predators have been known to gradually seduce their targets through the use of attention, affection, kindness, and even gifts.
They are willing to devote considerable amounts of time, money, and energy to this process as you could imagine.
They know the latest music and hobbies that are likely to interest kids, and will listen to and sympathize with kids' problems.
They also try to lower young people's inhibitions by gradually introducing sexual content into their conversations.
Other predators are faster workers: they engage in sexually explicit conversations with children immediately. This more direct approach may include harassment or stalking.
Lastly, a predators could also be evaluating the kids they meet online for future face-to-face contact, which is very likely.
Its impossible to try to attack each one of these items separately. Get a game plan together with your family if your the parent. Plan ahead for potential dangers. Live free without the worry of something happening, but be prepared incase something does.
This is just a portion of information about predators and how the work. Next time I'm going to cover the most important topic of 'how kids become vicimized' and 'what kid are potential victims'. This will be the last post of the 'HOW TO' series, so stay tuned. Till then enjoy a showing from Chris Hansen's 'To Catch a Predator'. Enjoy!
SOURCES:
http://www.media-awareness.ca/english/resources/special_initiatives/wa_resources/wa_shared/backgrounders/online_predators.cfm
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/25111014#25111014
http://www.microsoft.com/protect/parents/social/predators.aspx