Students in chat rooms and online predators
http://unh.edu/ccrc/pdf/CV71.pdf
Wolak, Janis, David Finkelhor, and Kimberly Mitchell. "Internet-initiated Sex Crimes against Minors:
Implications for Prevention Based on Findings from a National Study." Journal of Adolescent
Health 35.5 (2004): n. pag. PDF file.
This article features a study aimed at internet-initiated sex crimes
against minors. By national survey and telephone interviews with law
enforcement agencies it was discovered that 75% of victims of sexual
offenses that originated with online encounters were 13-15 year old
girls who met adult offenders in chat rooms, 99% of whom were male, with
76% being older than 25. This article describes how victims were
targeted and how relationships developed. In addition to constructing
this data, the article examines why the normal preventative messages we
see about internet predators are ignored by juveniles. I appreciated
that it emphasized the populations that were most likely to be victims
including those with poor relationships with parents, loneliness and
depression, gay or questioning boys, and compliant or statutory victims.
I thought it was very interesting that the article drove home the point
that prevention is not just about telling minors not to correspond with
strangers or form relationships online with one they've never met
before. According to this article that is widely ignored by juveniles
because they emphasize the dangers of deception. In many of the cases
featured, deception about sexual motives was uncommon. The article says
the major challenge in prevention is that most in this study were
willing to enter into voluntary relationships with unknown adults
online. Instead of the standard preventative measures, it's suggested
that teens know the publicity and embarrassment when the relationship
becomes known. The responsibility now lies with health and prevention
educators, law enforcement officials and parents to begin discussions in
early adolescence. Because this article was featured in the Journal of Adolescent Health I
do believe it is a very credible source on the topic within. I
definitely agree with the approach to helping minors see what happens
when you get involved in a relationship with an adult you've met online
instead of just warning kids not to share personal information online. I
believe that advice is outdated and frankly just going to be ignored by
kids because social networking is such a large part of their social
lives and in many cases can be beneficial. I also thought it was
interesting that the article focused on what populations are more likely
to be victims and that the predators don't necessarily match the image
of a deceiving pedophile that we conjure up in our mind when thinking
about internet-initiated sex crimes.
This video displays an interesting juxtaposition of victim and predator. It's short but I think it accurately describes what I found in my article. It portrays the right demographic with the victim being a young female adolescent and the predator, a male around the age of 25. The predator mentions that most girls are insecure and desperate for attention. I think this correlates with some of the populations described as victims in my article, teens that are lonely or depressed.
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