Protecting Children Online †Criminal Justice Essay

Protecting Children Online – Criminal Justice Essay Free Online Research Papers Protecting Children Online Criminal Justice Essay It is a must to keep children monitored while accessing the internet. If they are not then it can lead to devastation to their character and in some cases worse. The government and law enforcers need to crack down on child predators on the internet and limit certain information that can be gained. A simple change in some laws and hard work to change these problems can make a big difference later on. With law enforcement agencies and the monitors of the internet can help change these problems. The children’s parents need to play a big role in this as well. If the parents monitor their children while using the internet, it can help them a lot at a younger age understanding right and wrong. The adolescents of today are the first generation to be raised in a wired world where computers are a common entity in classrooms and homes. In addition to the tremendous benefits that technology has afforded, including access to information and educational resources, the increased immersion of students into a digital age has also contributed to the evolution of new participants in and witnesses to the emergence of social problems in the cyber world (Berson, Berson, Ferron, 2002). The internet is accessible and popular among youth, and evidence is suggesting that people often make online choices that are contrary to their offline behaviors (Miller, 1999). This phenomenon has broadened the opportunity to engage in violent and abusive behaviors and has dramatically increased the access of potential offenders to a more expansive pool of victims (Federal Bureau of Investigation; fbi.gov). These are perfect examples of why parents are the major factor in how their children behave online. These parents need to monitor who their children are talking to and this could prevent any major catastrophes of cyber violence. The government needs to take a stand on the cyber violence and it can help eliminate the child predators. They take a strong viewpoint but there is plenty they could do with the laws to help protect children using the internet. The government really needs to sit down and discuss these issues before it becomes a major problem in the future. A good start would be to crack down on the people who monitor internet activity and make sure that they have plenty of information about how to spot a child predator. The internet needs to be monitored by law enforcement personnel in order to keep children safe. The people that stalk children on the internet need to be punished to the fullest extent of the law. If these predators are not found and charged with the crime the situation will never improve (Benson, 1996). One way this jurisdictional problem could be solved in the United States would be to prosecute under the federal law that prohibits obscenity or harassment using interstate telecommunications devices. One of the problems with this statute is that it does nothing to help the victim being harassed by an international stalker, especially if that person cannot be identified (Benson, 1996). This is an interesting way to look at the cyber communities and private conversations. With these kinds of things going on it makes children vulnerable to child predators online. This is still why parents play the most important role of their children in cyber space. Get involved with what they are doing while they are surfing the web. In order to prevent them from being violated it is a must to stay involved in their computer interactions with friends and strangers. If you have ever went to a search site and entered your name you would be surprised what you would find. There is so much information available to people on the internet that it is scary. That’s why you have people taking advantage of the information provided to them and using it for illegal purposes. There is no real way that you know who you are talking to on the internet by what the person tells you. The internet has become an important form of communication in modern society, with a forecast of 500 million online globally by the year 2003. Its increased use and accessibility have led to a burgeoning of cyber communities, where people of like minds and common interests transcend geographical barriers and communicate with one another on a range of subjects, some trivial, some controversial, and some intensely private (Frankel Siang, 1999). The vast amount of social and behavioral information potentially available on the internet has made it a prime target for researchers wishing to study the dynamics of human interactions and their consequences in this virtual medium. Researchers can potentially collect data from widely dispersed populations at relatively low cost and in less time than similar efforts in the physical world (Frankel Siang, 1999). This just shows that there are predators that watch the way people interact in an online environment. When these predators watch the way children interact it gives them an idea of how to also act toward them. This is one of the ways that children are violated by child predators. In this world we live in today the internet is an easy way for predators to manipulate younger children. It is an easy way to find out information about younger kids and keep in contact with them. There have been plenty of stories of predators acting the same age as a child or teenager to try and arrange meetings between them. This is why it is so important for parents to keep monitoring their children in the online environment. There is a conference put on called the Virtual Global Taskforce Conference. It aims at protecting children in an online environment. It is a conference with people from the government, law enforcement, and industry and child protection organizations from across the globe. The conferences aim is to develop simple, practical and deliverable actions to combat on-line child abuse. Outcomes included a raised awareness of the challenges and opportunities involved in tackling on-line abuse at political, law enforcement and industry level; identified methods for sharing good practice across all sectors; and the development of new national and international partnerships and strategies to reduce the sexual exploitation of children in the virtual environment and subsequently in the real world (www.morrowcommunications.co.uk/vgt/). This is obviously a big problem in the United States and the World at that. We have to be more careful when are children are using the information super highway and help them understand what can go on if they are not careful. This starts with the parents and ends with the government taking a stand on this topic. We can eliminate a lot of child pornography, identity theft, and sometimes life threatening situations. The internet needs to be modified drastically when it comes to protecting children from child predators, pornography sites, cyber violence, and the way children behave in the online community. If children are not monitored while using the internet it can lead to much bigger problems in the long run. With the internet being a major source of communication and information it is also a way to exploit children and passing on information that is not suitable for children. Letting children and parents know of safety precautions to take could help protect children while using the internet. References Frankel, M.S., Siang, S. (1999). Ethical and legal aspects of human subject research on the Internet. Paper presented at the American Association for the Advancement of Science workshop, Washington, DC. Retrieved April 11, 2006 from aaas.org/spp/dspp/sfrl/projects/intres/main.htm Federal Bureau of Investigation (2002). Federal bureau of investigation online. Federal Bureau of Investigation. Retrieved April 11, 2006 from fbi.gov/ Jenson, B. (1996). Cyberstalking: Crime, enforcement and personal responsibility of the on-line world. S.G.R. MacMillan. Retrieved on April 09, 2006 from sgrm.com/art-8.htm Berson, L., Berson, M., Ferron, J. (2005). Emergency Risks of Violence in the Digital Age: Lessons for educators from an online study of adolescent girls in the United States. North Carolina. Retrieved April 10, 2006 from ncsu.edu/meridian/sum2002/cyberviolence/ Protecting Children On-line (2005). Virtual Global Taskforce Conference. 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