The Mobile Parent Blog

Parents are a weak link in the chain of defences intended to safeguard children from online sexual predators, says the senior policeman responsible for child protection on the internet.

Too many parents prefer to hide behind technological ignorance rather than engage with advice about how to protect their children from internet threats.

Jim Gamble, head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), told The Times that parents talked about the need to keep children safe online but did not act on the advice available to them.

To read the full article, go here http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article6823929.ece

National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children published a Parent’s guide to Internet Safety prepared from actual investigations involving child victims, as well as investigations where law enforcement officers posed as children.

Below listed are some of the signs that your child might be at risk online.

1. Your child spends large amounts of time on-line, especially at night.

2. You find pornography on your child’s computer.

3.Your child receives phone calls from men you don’t know or is making calls, sometimes long distance, to numbers you don’t recognize.

4.Your child receives mail, gifts, or packages from someone you don’t know.

5.Your child turns the computer monitor off or quickly changes the screen on the monitor when you come into the room.

6.Your child becomes withdrawn from the family.

7.Your child is using an on-line account belonging to someone else.

You can read the entire guide in http://www.fbi.gov/publications/pguide/pguidee.htm.

Parents concerned about online safety mostly worry about protecting their kids from online child predators. Though child predators are the most dangerous solicitors that children come across surfing the net, sometimes, sexual solicitations come from fellow teenagers and people these kids know in person – their friends. These youth want them to share their personal information including revealing pictures via the internet.

According to a recent survey released by Cox Communications (PDF File), about one in five teens have engaged in sexting, a new worrisome phenomenon of sending, receiving or forwarding sexually suggestive photos of themselves through text message or email. Most of these teenagers say that they have sent these messages to boyfriends/girlfriends because it’s asked of them or to have fun. What is interesting is almost all of them know that it is dangerous.

Conscientious parents nowadays make sure that they monitor their kids use of the internet at home, but most of them do not monitor their kids going online through cell phones. The Cox Communications Survey cites that 4 in 5 kids surveyed have parents who do not control their online time on their mobile devices. Disturbingly, almost half of these parents have not spoken to their kids about internet safety on cell phones.

As more and more risky online activities like sexting crop up on the internet, it is important for parents to speak to their kids about internet safety on cellphones. They should not only be watchful of their kids’ use of internet through computers, but they have to extend it to their childrens’ use of mobile and wireless devices also.

Blame it to the modern technology that has given its users new freedom and independence. Communication has become so easy and quick. Along with the many benefits there are also some challenges, particularly in relation to safety. Bullying at home, in the playground or in the schools is as old as the human race but with the modern technology a new form has emerged: Cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying is one of the rising problems involving children. It is not only hurtful and but also destructive.  Children have ended up killing each other and committing suicide after having been involved in cyber-bulling incidents. It is one of the fastest growing problems that parents, schools will have to keep a watch on. This article will help you understand what cyber-bulling is, how kids get started with it and how parents/schools can stop it before it gets worse.

What is cyber-bulling?

It’s a crime instigated by a minor against another. In other words Cyber-bulling is when one teen or child using internet, cell phone or other communication device sends text or images intended to hurt or embarrass another teen or child. It is a deliberate and aggressive act designed to assert interpersonal remark over another, so that he/she feels helpless to respond. Statistics have shown that more than 33% of the teens have been cyber bullied.

How kids get started with it?

Anger, frustration or revenge can lead kids to cyber- bulling. Some just do it for fun/entertainment – just for a laugh or to get a reaction and some get exposed to it accidently. Kids generally use chat rooms, social networking sites, blogs, you tube, and e-mails for bullying.

How Parents/schools can stop it before it gets worse?

Mobicip is very well aware of this problem and helps parents to provide a safe online environment over electronic devices that the child can get his/her hands on. It not only filters inappropriate content to provide a safe browsing experience but also provides web monitoring capabilities including customizable filter settings, whitelists, blacklists and reports of websites visited. It also encrypts traffic for an added layer of protection. Mobicip can make a parent act smartly to ensure safe online experience for their entire family. Mobicip currently supports iPhone, iPod Touch and Linux Netbooks and will soon be available for Windows and other platforms.