The vast expansion of cyberspace has given the ability to make anything you so choose available and easily accessible to millions of other users. With this great evolution of human interaction there has been amazing results, but also the reality of harmful predators that lurk in the shadows of virtual space waiting to take advantage of an unsuspecting individual. Cyber predators are a great threat to personal lives and organizations throughout the world as identity becomes harder to trace within the endless web of the technology. When you think of a cyber predator what comes to mind? Is it a pedophile, a deranged mother, a lonely student reaching out for acceptance? The possibility of becoming someone new on the Internet is a very easy thing to do. On the Internet you can choose the persona you wish to represent making it a real danger for those who aren’t protected. As with everything else in this world it seems that for every good there is a bad waiting to be created.
I think that the most common thought when we think about cyber predators is the exploitation of children online. Cyber predators are continuously stalking chat rooms to find children for sexual activities. This is sick and wrong, but as technology grows it makes catching these criminals much harder. This being the case it is the responsibility of parents, the government, and everyone with knowledge of cyber predators to educate children to keep personal information safe. With all the resources available to protect our children is of great concern that these things still continue to happen. As stated by Ernie Allen of the Center for Missing and Exploited Children, “It's a massive problem. We know that 87 percent of teenagers are online. That's 21 million kids and that 2/3 of the victims are teenage girls.” This a scary thought as more children gain access every day. So what can we do to protect them from future dangers such as cyber predators? The choice has to be in the hands of the parents and teachers who have direct contact with the children providing them with the knowledge they need to be safer online.
Another cyber predator that aims for your personal information is the online thief. These people stroll the Internet looking to have a shopping spree with your money or to completely take what is most sacred, identity. With businesses and families going more in the direction of wireless it is making the cyber thief’s job much easier. A thief armed with a laptop can simply drive around looking to link up with a network and essentially gaining access to their personal information. It seems that instant accessibility and wireless connections our societies have created is also making the realm of thieves endless. Anyone, anywhere can find there way into your personal information if not protected properly.
The idea of cyber predators is one that can cause great grief for the victims of such actions like bullying. I remembered watching a broadcast of CNN when it explained how a mother had gone online and created a new male identity to bully a young girl that attended the same school of her daughter. Unfortunately the story unraveled to reveal that the bullied girl had committed suicide because of the adult mother’s actions. This just lets us know that what we might think is ok when we choose to create a new life on the web really can affect someone else in such a negative way. The future of technology is endless and with that we need to take into consideration are the dangers the come with it. The world will never be completely safe from predators, but with guidance we can have an enormous effect on the future of Internet safety.
References
Balkin, Adam., & Carino, Lisa. (2005). Protection from cyber predators. Retrieved November 23, 2008, from http://www.rnews.com/print.cfm?id=28003
5 comments:
This post came very close to the topics that my group discussed in our own blog, but we focused primarily on cyber bullying. I am glad that you brought up the information on the cyber predators that aim for personal information. This is especially important during the holiday season that we are in because there are so many scams out there. For this most recent weekly activity, I actually found an article on an organization that was created to help protect people from this problem. The company is called Alliance Against Bait & Tackle, and they created a website in order to help educate people on the current scams that are being run on the Internet (Szetela, 2008). Do you think that there will ever be a complete solution for these problems?
Szetela, D. (2008). The alliance against bait & click try to stop scads. Retrieved on December 7th, 2008 from http://ecommercetrends.com
Although many of us think of cyber predators as those who bother children, we really don't think that we can be the victims of cyber predators too. We should be aware that many times we receive emails or messages in our personal webpages from people we don't know. Some of us accept to be their 'friends' but if we don't know that person, how can we make sure that 'friend' is not a cyber predator.
Even worse is when people think they know enough about the internet and still they are putting themselves at risk by revealing information to someone they don't know in person.
The dangerous part here is that, those action can pass from the computer to a real world and then it really becomes a problem for the person dealing with it.
I guess not just kids need to be taught about the risks of using the internet, adults should also receive a similar education about the topic.
I have been victimized by a cyber predator, who used my banking information to pay his bills and purchase things over the internet. There need to be stiffer regulations against cyber predators on the net. Cyber predators should be prosecuted and not allowed to have access to any type of technology. "Most U.S. citizens are accustomed to the expectation of privacy." (Nord, McCubbins, & Nord, 2006, p.73) Privacy is a concern, but should privacy be an excuse not to get rid of these cyber predators?
I guess one of the biggest things that we never touched on in class was the change in identity for the predators as well. The internet gives the opportunity to create a completely new personality and identity for everyone, not just victims.
In the school shooting at Virginia Tech, the student made it obvious through myspace.com and facebook.com as well as other blogs and sites that he was unhappy and unstable. Unfortunately, he did not have the motivation or support to come forward with his feelings to seek help until it was too late. Since he had a different personality in person and online, the signs weren't caught in time to prevent a tragedy.
On the show "to catch a predator" some of the child molesters would absolutely breakdown once they realized how foolish they were and how disgusting their personas and fetishes were. I don't condone or have any sympathy for this activity or behavior, but it does stem from being able to create this "secret life" or "alter ego" on the web.
With the growing popularity of the internet, the trend of online crimes and online mischief grows also. This blog was very interesting and helpful to me. Online activity will continue to grow and predators will find new and improved ways to prey on people. Will there ever be a solution to these problems, or just temporary solutions to ongoing problems? Do you believe that technological determinism will provide the answers with time or will the predators be one step ahead? Chris Hanson of Dateline NBC has aired many episodes on many different television stations that show how they catch predators online and yet still they have months of episodes to air. These predators even acknowledge that they have seen the show but yet they still prey on children. Parents, teachers and other students try to teach our youth the do's and don't of online safety but still the reports of predators increases. I believe that through technocentrism someone will eliminate this problem all together. Society will figure this problem out hopefully sooner than later!
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