BEWARE OF INTERNET CHAT ROOMS

BEWARE OF INTERNET CHAT ROOMS!

A female police detective specializing in Internet crime invited Awake! to see the dangers of Internet chat rooms. She entered a chat room, posing as a 14-year-old girl. After just a few seconds, a number of individuals made contact. The strangers asked such questions as: “Where are you from?” “Are you a girl or a boy?” “Can we talk?” Several responses were from suspected sexual predators whom the police were tracking. That shows how easily a pedophile can get into a chat room with your child!

Some parents think that children are safe when using chat rooms because their conversations are accessible by everyone in the chat room while the discussion is taking place. However, once in a chat room, you can be invited to have a one-on-one conversation. Referring to this practice, sometimes called whispering, the United Kingdom’s Internet Taskforce on Child Protection warns: “This is like stepping out of a party full of people into a private room and having a separate conversation with a stranger.”

It is also important for parents to understand that most pedophiles want to do more than chat with a child. A paper prepared by the Internet Crime Forum reports: “Contact initiated in chat rooms may well be developed through other media, such as email and (mobile) phone.” A report from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation states: “While talking to a child victim on-line is a thrill for a computer-sex offender, it can be very cumbersome. Most want to talk to the children on the telephone. They often engage in ‘phone sex’ with the children and often seek to set up an actual meeting for real sex.”

To accomplish this, computer-sex offenders will give out their phone number. Should your child call them, caller ID will reveal the child’s phone number. Other predators have toll-free numbers or tell the child to call collect. Some have even sent the child a cell phone. Offenders may also send letters, photographs, and gifts.

Children are not the only ones succumbing to the dangers of chat rooms. Using smooth speech to tell women what they wanted to hear, one man recently made six women in the United Kingdom fall in love with him at the same time. One of the victims, Cheryl, an attractive 27-year-old postgraduate student, said: “I just can’t explain it now. It became so intense it took over my whole life.”

“Women find cyberspace comforting because they are not being judged by their looks,” said Jenny Madden, the founder of Women in Cyberspace. “But they also leave themselves very open to manipulation because there is a tendency, in chat rooms particularly, to give away a lot about yourself very quickly.”

“All I have to do is turn on my computer and I have thousands of women to choose from,” said one man questioned for a University of Florida research study conducted by Beatriz Avila Mileham. She stated: “The internet will soon become the most common form of infidelity, if it isn’t already.” “We are hearing from therapists around the country reporting online sexual activity to be a major cause of marital problems,” said Dr. Al Cooper, editor of the book Sex and the Internet: A Guidebook for Clinicians.

In view of these sobering facts, it is wise to take sensible precautions when using the Internet. Talk to your children, and teach them how to protect themselves from danger. Equipped with proper knowledge, you can avoid the dangers of the Internet.—Ecclesiastes 7:12.

INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY, What Harm Can It Do?

	INTERNET PORNOGRAPHY What Harm Can It Do?
	Pornography Goes On-Line ALL OVER THE WORLD, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE USE THE Internet every day. Many log on to conduct business, to catch up on world news, to check the weather, to learn about different countries, to obtain travel information, or to communicate with family and friends in various parts of the world. But some—married and single adults as well as a surprising number of children—will be going on-line for a very different reason: TO LOOK AT PORNOGRAPHY. COMPUTER PORNOGRAPHY, also called cyberporn, is so popular that it has become a multimillion-dollar business. The Wall Street Journal observed: "Find a Web site that is in the black [profitable] and, chances are, its business and content are distinctly blue [pornographic]." The Journal went on to explain why people turn to the Internet for pornography: "Customers can view racy fare without having to slink into a sleazy bookstore or even visit the back room of the neighborhood video shop. Customers can peruse raunchy fare in the privacy of the home—or office." Pornography and Children Sadly, many of cyberporn's viewers are children. Youngsters who are prohibited by law from purchasing pornographic literature or from renting pornographic videos can gain access to these in their own home with a few clicks of the mouse. The choices are endless. Many children regularly visit Internet sites without their parents' knowledge. In fact, The Detroit News states that "more than two in five children have subscribed to a web site or other service online even though nearly 85 percent of parents have rules against doing so." While most children—and adults as well—are careful to hide the fact that they dabble in pornography, not everyone sees the need to do so. Some consider the practice to be a harmless form of recreation. Others concede that pornography is not good for children but reason that what adults do in private is their own business. In some countries the controversy over pornography has turned into a full-scale political battle. On one side of the argument, free-speech proponents campaign in favor of pornography, and on the other, family-values advocates lobby the authorities to ban pornography. Awake! does not take sides in political issues. The purpose of this series is to inform our readers of the dangers of viewing pornography, to suggest ways that they can protect themselves and their loved ones, and to provide Bible-based suggestions for anyone who has become ensnared by pornography and wishes to break free. The dangers of pornography are discussed in the following article.

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