Online Safety: Guiding Our Children Legal Issues and Safeguards

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Online SafetyGuiding Our ChildrenLegal Issues
and Safeguards

• Corporal Gordon Berlin
• Elizabethtown Police Department

Harrisburg Catholic Diocese September
18, 2006
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Topics

• Introduction
• The newest, grayest frontier for all of us
• When should law enforcement be involved
• Statistics where is this going?
• Dealing with predators and cyberbullying
• Tips, suggestions, comments, free for all
  question and answers

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ALL THE NEWS FIT TO PRINT

• Ludwig/Borden case in Lancaster county
• Child pornography in area
• Congressman Foley scandal
• Dateline stories about predators
• Cyberbullying in schools
• Elizabethtown College professor arrested

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Statistics to open your eyes ?Approximately 25
million children are on the internet 87 of
teens vs. 66 of adults ?20 of those have been
solicited for sex ?1/3 male other 2/3
female ?1 in 33 aggressively pursued by
solicitors ?25 were unintentionally exposed to
pornography ?Only ¼ told their parents about the
solicitation ?40 told parents about
pornography Less than 10 of solicitation and 3
of pornography were reported to law
enforcement 99-00 study of 1,501 teens by the
National Center for Missing Exploited Children
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SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE ONLINE SURVEY OF 11,000 TEENS

• 60 filled out a questionnaire or forms online
  and gave out personal information
• 51 had received pictures from someone online
• 12 had agreed to meet in person with someone
  they had met online
• 30 had been in a chat room where the discussion
  had made them uncomfortable
• 15 had read messages on the web that threatened
  violence
• 80 admitted to engaging in cybersex
  

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When law enforcement should be involved

• ANY evidence of child pornography/online predator
  activity
• Clear criminal activity/behavior
• Threats, physical violence, theft, fraud
• Must have a victim child/student needs to be
  willing to report it and/or do something about
  it.
• Better to be called and not needed than needed
  and not called

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Shades of Gray

• Internet crimes/behavior are new for all of us.
  Because of their boundary-less nature, and
  constant interpretation of what is acceptable, it
  requires a level of teamwork and cooperation
  between educators, parents, and law enforcement
  that is unprecedented.

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Online Predator Tactics

• Establish first contact via online chat rooms
• Versed in teen culture, music, trends
• Often forge names/age/location/gender
• Target teen online hot-spots
• Seduce with kindness, attention, sympathy
• Pull kids aside into private chat areas
• Build trust, leading up to f2f meetings
• A long-term process

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Bullying Statistics

• 61 of teens aged 12-17 witness at least one
  bullying incident a day at school NCPC
• Almost ¾ of school shooters were bullied to the
  point of meeting the legal definition of
  harassment. USSS SSI
• Survey of 1,500 students 58 received
  mean/hurtful statements online, 53 initiated
  them, 42 were bullied online i-safe
• Most online bullying is done by children 9-14

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WHY?

• Establishing identity outside of family
• Establishing/struggling with sexual identity
• Sense of anonymity online
• Lack of face?face contact desensitizes to
  emotional impact unable to read cues
• Peer Pressure

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Crimes involved in online misconduct

• Harassment Disorderly Conduct
• Harassment by communications
• Assault
• Stalking
• Ethnic Intimidation
• Terroristic Threats
• Unlawful Use of a computer, et al.
• Sexual Child abuse sections corruption of
  minors, etc.

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Issues for Educators

• Jurisdiction should we or can we get involved?
• Adoption of Acceptable Use Policies
• Filtering/Content Blocking/Monitoring
• Parental Involvement/educating parents

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• ACLU vs. Reno 1996Internet is protected under
  1st Amendment

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Willie Says March 22nd, 2005 at 720
pm Ashley Gibson is a fucking dumbass slutty
skankwad retarded Arab fuckface. That stupid
bitch thinks shes all that, but if she was all
that, why the fuck would every damn kid be
beating the fuck out of that bitch on a daily
basis. Stupid creepy pervert Ashley grabs boys
asses and thinks shes pretty when shes actually
quite ugly from all that ass kicking shes
endured all her life. Shes stupid and a fucking
whorebag and I curse her demented grandmother to
hell. Ashleys stupid and she lives in a fucking
group home and theyre about to kick that slut
out because shes been stealing too much of their
stuff because she cant even afford a free
sample. Shes just mad because even her imaginary
friends are beating the shit out of her. That
stupid homeless street punkish trailor trash fat
ass dirty fecal feliac. She never fucking changes
her clothes or takes a shower, that bitch has
been wearing the same raggedy stained red shirt
and oily pants for the past six years. I fucking
hate that dumb bitch, her mom sells her body on
the street for fifty cents, her grandma too. All
three of them are kinda like NetZero, easy
connection, full access, and only 9.95 a month.
I cant think of a single person in the universe
who respects that ass spelunker. I curse that
bitch to hell, but it still wouldnt help because
Id be able to smell her sweaty armpits all the
way up here. That retarded slut has no idea her
life will turn out to be horrible and painful for
her retarded ass. Painful is good, if I could get
a hold of a good enough saw, Id saw that bitchs
arms and legs off and then videotape it and laugh
while she cries in pain. Her mom walks on her
hands and knees going to church, her mom woulld
fuck a squirrel for a walnut. I seriously hate
her and she deserves to have a grenade shoved
through all 2,000 miles of her fat ass. When it
explodes, well literally see some serious shit
while Ashley screams and her fucking demented
spirit flies to hell because thats just what she
is, a stupid retarded fucking hobo Chinese
Nigerian Arab shit infested crap hole lemon nosed
Dumbrella - Blog Entry
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Xanga.com and MySpace.com
Xanga.com
Teen-centric Blog Community Open to anyone at
least 13 years old (not verified) Teens create
webpages with journal entries, pictures sound
clips Xanga users comment on each others
entries Ad-hoc social networks,
blog-rings eProps - encourages users to post
comments
Myspace.com Older High school,
college, and adults Must be 14 not
verified 14 and 15 y/o have private accounts
Picture and music-driven site Concept
of friends and groups of friends
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Online Bullying

• Signs and symptoms are the same as traditional
  bullying only the medium has changed more
  dangerous
• Socio-economic status physical appearance
  feud/argument spurned relationship
• Withdrawal drop in grades new sets of friends
  suddenly in trouble drastic change in clothing
  demeanor

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Tips/Tricks for Parents

• Keep the computer in a public/open place in the
  house do NOT allow children alone in their
  bedroom w/computer
• Limit the amount of time online
• Know their friends screen names
• Be open and honest
• Set up contracts for internet usage

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What Are Signs That A Child Might Be At Risk
On-line?

• A child spends large amounts of time
  on-line, especially at night.
• You find pornography on A child's computer.
• A child receives phone calls from men you don't
  know or is making calls, sometimes long distance,
  to numbers you don't recognize.

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• A child receives mail, gifts, or packages from
  someone you don't know.
• A child turns the computer monitor off or quickly
  changes the screen on the monitor when you come
  into the room.
• A child becomes withdrawn from the family.

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Resources

• www.isafe.org
• www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm
• http//www.missingkids.com/
• http//tcs.cybertipline.com/
• www.ftc.gov
• www.psp.state.pa.us

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Final Thoughts

• Take the good with the bad
• A word about software
• Kids will be kids
• Dont panic its not a hungry computer

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Questions?