University Times

There’s no underestimating the role computers play in children’s lives today.

Some 24 million children use the Internet on a weekly basis, according to a study by the U.S. Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. The study found 89 percent used the Internet for sending and receiving email, while 81 percent played games, 76 percent read news and 43 percent shopped online.

Along with the wealth of benefits in the form of fun, information and contact with friends, come online dangers as well: The study found a quarter of children surveyed had unwanted exposure to sexual content online; 19 percent received unwanted sexual solicitations in the past year, and 6 percent reported instances of harassment.

Parents need to be vigilant to keep kids safe online, Pitt-Titusville police officer Randall Schwabenbauer told the Staff Association Council’s fall assembly last week.

A member of the Pennsylvania State Police Computer Crimes Task Force, Schwabenbauer helps catch Internet predators who don’t know that the 13-year-old girl they think they’re chatting with really is a burly middle-aged cop.

Schwabenbauer urged parents to make themselves familiar with computer technology and the way today’s kids are using it.

He said parents must watch kids when they’re online and communicate with them when they’re offline. Parents need to set computer rules with their kids and know how to check up on the sites their children have visited. And, he said, parents can’t be afraid to tell their kids “no” to certain online activities.

Youngsters can be harassed or even stalked online.

Noting that more than half of the 38 million blogs in the world belong to people 19 or younger, he displayed an example created by a middle-school girl. It featured a photo along with a wealth of personal information: Her full name, school name and location, school activities, height, weight, birthday, interests and links to her email and instant messaging (IM) accounts. “If I’m stalking this girl, I know right where to go to find her.” For an Internet predator, “This is the shopping mall,” he pointed out.

Stalkers also can follow their victims via email or in online chatrooms.

Schwabenbauer’s presentation included a video of testimony by Alicia Kozakiewicz, who was 13 when a man she’d been chatting with online took her from her Crafton Heights home in 2002. She had been beaten and sexually abused before FBI agents found her tied up in a bedroom in suburban Washington, D.C., four days later. The man, a 38-year-old computer programmer, was sentenced in federal court to 19 years in prison.

Cyberbullying is another Internet danger, one that affects more than 1 in 5 eighth-graders and three times as many girls as boys, Schwabenbauer said.

Derogatory or threatening messages can be sent via email, IM or cell phone text messages, posted in chatrooms or on other web sites.

Parents also need to be aware of the trouble that may await if their children cyberbully others or commit other Internet crimes.

Cyberbullies who send repeated unwanted messages or stalk others in chatrooms could be prosecuted for harassment, harassment by communication or stalking, Schwabenbauer cautioned. Kids who send messages containing ethnic slurs or computer viruses could face myriad felony and misdemeanor charges including criminal mischief, terroristic threats, ethnic intimidation or unlawful use of a computer, he said.

Citing the case of a 14-year-old prosecuted for releasing a computer worm in 2003, Schwabenbauer warned that many children don’t recognize the seriousness of their actions. “A lot of them don’t realize what’s going to happen to them,” he said.

If children hack into others’ accounts and make purchases with a stolen credit card number, they could face identity theft, credit card fraud and other charges.

One hacking case that made recent news involved 20-year-old David Kernell, who was charged with hacking into Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin’s Yahoo account. A trial is set for mid-December. He faces a maximum of five years in prison and $250,000 in fines. In addition, Kernell’s actions have put an unwanted spotlight on his father, a Democratic state representative.

“He’s got some explaining to do because of what his son did,” Schwabenbauer said.

Kids also can make unnecessary trouble for themselves by imprudent postings on social networking sites. Schwabenbauer said employers increasingly are looking at prospective employees’ pages on Facebook or MySpace. He advised parents to have their children remove anything that could be viewed in a negative light, such as photos of themselves partying. “You just don’t want it out there,” he said, citing the case of a Millersville University education student who posted a photo of herself with the caption “drunken pirate.”

After seeing it, her student-teaching supervisor raised questions about her professionalism. The student ultimately was booted from her student teaching position and denied her teaching certificate and education degree. The case is still in the courts. Schwabenbauer noted that the photo wasn’t the sole issue, but in this case “it contributed to what the issues were.”

In addition to watching children online (and paying attention to code words such as “rent” or “POS” — for parent over shoulder — that alert online friends that a parent is present), parents should know how to check where their kids have been online. For many Internet browser programs, pressing Control + H reveals the history of recently visited sites.

Filtering software can be customized to block access to certain sites, monitor usage or prevent the release of personal information. Parents also can use their Internet service provider’s parental controls to block IMs or chat or to restrict email, Schwabenbauer said.

Sexual exploitation of children online can be reported online to cybertipline.org or by calling 800/843-5678. The tip line is operated by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in partnership with the FBI, U.S. Customs Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

Parents and kids differ about whether they have rules online. One survey found 92 percent of parents say they have set rules; only 65 percent of kids agree, he said.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children recommends that children and parents set rules together to decide when and how long children may be online and which sites they may visit.

It also advises that online safety rules should include a pledge not to give out personal information, send pictures or agree to meet in person with an online acquaintance without a parent’s permission. The group also advises that children promise to refuse to respond to messages that are mean or make them feel uncomfortable and to tell their parents immediately if they receive such messages or encounter uncomfortable information online.

Schwabenbauer said, “Most kids think we’re spying on them — which we are — but it’s for their well-being.”

—Kimberly K. Barlow