Press Release

FIGHTING ONLINE CHILD EXPLOITATION

National Center for Missing & Exploited Children Urges Parents to
Engage in their Children’s Online Life

ALEXANDRIA, VA, October 3, 2006 -- One in seven children receives a sexual solicitation online1. The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is urging parents to educate themselves about online exploitation and stressing the importance of parents becoming more involved in their child’s online life. “New technology such as the Internet has brought a wealth of resources into everyone’s home. Unfortunately, it has also brought pedophiles and child predators into the house as well,” said Ernie Allen, President and CEO of NCMEC. “The incidence of child victimization and exploitation has increased dramatically with new technology such as the Internet and instant messaging. It provides unprecedented access and relative anonymity.”

Parents need to know that “stranger danger” is a myth. People who want to harm children come from all income levels and professions. They can be family members, doctors, lawyers, teachers, coaches or the next door neighbor. They live in big cities and small towns. They are likely to be someone your child already knows. The one thing they have in common is they all work very hard to gain legitimate access to children. The Internet provides an easy way to generate trust and seduce them.

The one in seven children who receive a sexual solicitation online receive a request to engage in sexual activity, a request to engage in sexual talk, or a request to give out personal sexual information. Four percent of children are asked to meet somewhere, called on the telephone, or sent mail, money or a gift2.

“Parents need to understand how prevalent the problem is, and be aware of the risks that exist for their children,” stated Allen. “Awareness and preparedness are key to protecting children. Parents should know what their children are doing, and need to teach their children how to be safe online.”

Parents need to report all incidents of suspected child sexual exploitation to the NCMEC CyberTipline (www.CyberTipline.com), established eight years ago as the national “9-1-1 for the Internet.” It serves as the national clearinghouse for tips on Internet crimes against children, and is operated in partnership with the FBI, the Secret Service, ICE, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and others. To date, more than 420,000 leads have been reported to the CyberTipline, resulting in hundreds of arrests and successful prosecutions. NCMEC urges families to report all suspicious activity online to the CyberTipline.

Tips for Parents:

  1. Place the computer in a family area of the household and do not permit private usage.
  2. Openly discuss potential dangers of the Internet with your child.
  3. Enter into a safe-computing contract with your child about his or her use of these sites and computer use in general.
  4. Know each of your child’s passwords.
  5. Monitor what your child’s friends are posting regarding your child’s identity.
  6. Often children and their friends have accounts linked to one another, so it’s not just your child’s profile and information you need to worry about.
  7. Enable Internet filtering features if they are available from your Internet Service Provider.
  8. Install monitoring software or keystroke capture devices on your family computer that will help monitor your child’s Internet activity.
  9. Know what other access your child has to computers and devices like cell phones and PDAs.
  10. An interactive educational safety resource is available for children ages 5 to 17 at www.netsmartz.org.

Tips for Kids and Teens:

  1. Never post your personal information, such as a cell phone number, address, or the name of your school.
  2. Be aware that information you give out through instant messages, e-mails, social networking sites and blogs could put you at risk of victimization.
  3. Never meet in person with anyone you first “met” online. Some people may not be who they say they are.
  4. Remember that posting information about your friends could put them at risk.
  5. Never respond to harassing or rude e-mails. Delete any unwanted messages or friends who continuously leave inappropriate comments.
  6. Never give out your password to anyone other than your parent or guardian.
  7. Only add people as friends to your site if you know them in real life.
  8. Think before posting your photos. Personal photos should not have revealing information, such as school names or location.
  9. Check the privacy settings of the social networking sites that you use.
  10. An interactive educational safety resource is available for children ages 5 to 17 at www.netsmartz.org.

About the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. NCMEC's congressionally mandated CyberTipline, a reporting mechanism for child sexual exploitation, has handled more than 401,200 leads. Since its establishment in 1984, NCMEC has assisted law enforcement with more than 122,600 missing child cases, resulting in the recovery of more than 104,900 children. For more information about NCMEC, call its toll-free, 24 hour hotline at 1-800-THE-LOST or visit its web site at www.missingkids.com.


1David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell, and Janis Wolak. Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. Alexandria, Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2006, page 1, 7.

2David Finkelhor, Kimberly J. Mitchell, and Janis Wolak. Online Victimization of Youth: Five Years Later. Alexandria, Virginia: National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2006, page 1, 8.