Role of the Internet in the Sexual Exploitation of Children

Abstract

The availability of the Internet has become increasingly easier to adolescents due to technological advancements. Children are not only susceptible to predators in parks, shopping malls, and playgrounds but cyberspace as well. An increasing number of adolescents have access to smartphones and tablets allowing their susceptibility to become a cyber victim to increase as parental control may not be present. The purpose of this research was to examine the role of the Internet in the sexual exploitation of children. What are the methods predators use to prey on children? How does the child’s behavior play in their susceptibility to being seduced? What is the role of the education system to protect children? The Internet provides unlimited opportunities for educators to expand on their teaching methods and provide additional knowledge to students. However, security measures are lacking as well as knowledge on the potential dangers of the Internet. Education systems are not mandated to implement Internet safety courses into their curriculum as many educators themselves have a lack of knowledge on the subject. Many parents also have a lack of knowledge on Internet safety and feel that their children may be more tech-savvy, making Internet safety conversations more difficult. This allows a child the opportunity to utilize the Internet unsupervised, as many parental controls can be bypassed. A lack of Internet safety knowledge by authority figures, leaves many children susceptible to predator’s manipulation skills. The manipulative behavior a predator has on a child may even go unnoticed by educators and parents unless steps are taken to communicate with the child and the role of the education system to protect children should be to keep children safe while online. Implementing parental controls, mandatory policies and guidelines in school system’s and taking a lead role in the child’s life is imperative on whether a child is preyed upon by predators: Keywords: Education system, Professor Chris Riddell, Educators, Predators, Online, Internet Safety.