Internet Pornography Facts and Safety Tips

Internet Pornography Facts

• One in 5 children from ages 10-17 who are regular Internet users are sexually solicited online. One in 4 receives unwanted sexual content online.
• Solicitation of minors for sex online is growing at the rate of 1000% every month.
• Fewer than 15% of parents feel they know more about PCs than their teenage sons or daughters, or how to trace where their PC has "traveled" online.

Identifying Internet Pornography Activities

Signs that your child might be conducting at-risk online activities include:

• Child spends large amounts of time online, especially at night.
• You find pornography on your child’s computer.
• Child receives phone calls from men you don’t know or is making calls, sometimes long-distance, to numbers you don’t recognize.
• Child receives mail, gifts or packages from someone you don’t know.
• Child turns off the computer monitor or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.
• Child becomes withdrawn from the family.
• Child is using an online account belonging to someone else.

Internet Safety Tips

If anyone in your household is participating in the activities described here, immediately contact your local SAFE Task Force or state law enforcement agency, the FBI or the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.

• Communicate with your child about sexual victimization and the potential for online danger.
• Spend time with your children online. Let them teach you about their favorite online destinations.
• Keep your home computer in a common room in the house, not in your child’s bedroom.
• Use parental controls provided by your service provider and/or blocking software.
• Use of chat rooms should be heavily monitored because computer sex offenders prowl them.
• Instruct your child never to provide any personal information or upload pictures of themselves onto the Internet or online service to people they do not personally know. Nor should they download pictures from an unknown source, because there is a good chance these could be sexually explicit images.
• Never respond to messages or bulletin board postings that are suggestive, obscene, belligerent or harassing.
• Always maintain access to your child’s online account and randomly check email. Tell your child you will be doing this.

The SAFE Task Force is a community resource. If you have a concern about any individual or any suspicious behavior contact us by phone at 408-808-4300 or email at [email protected].