Dangers of the Internet for Kids

Mike Alba from the Council Bluffs police department spoke on January 31.  He teaches a variety of programs for the Department, including Stranger Danger, Neighborhood Watch and the Citizen Police Academy.

Children are usually honest on the internet, causing problems for them.  70% of them give out their first name, 67% give their age, 39% give their birth date, and 20% give their full name.

The main problems are things that children send in an e-mail, post in chat room, and post on MySpace or Facebook.  Predators tell these children what they want to hear.  Now bullies are also using e-mail and text messaging.

In the local area 22% of girls and 18% of boys have sent nude or semi-nude pictures of themselves to a friend.  Parents need to closely monitor their children to know what they are sending via e-mail and cell phone.

NetLingo.com has thousands of definitions that explain the online world of business, technology, and communication -- including the largest collection of Internet acronyms and text messaging shorthand.  It has the top 50 internet acronyms parents need to know, including POS (parents over shoulder), P911 (parent alert), PAL (parents are listening), and LMIRL (let’s meet in real life).