Who is Emailing Your Child?
There is no question that the Internet has profoundly changed the way your kids are educated. The World Wide Web has opened up entire new universes of information which is now available to students with a few keystrokes and clicks of the mouse.
But Internet-savvy kids not only have access to information which can help them with their studies; they have access to dozens of social sites where they can hook up with the friends with whom they would otherwise be spending hours on the phone. Thanks to sites like MySpace, Imbee, and Friendster, kids from all over the globe can interact, sharing their personal information and even photos of themselves.
But even kids who are too busy to build relationships on social networking sites can still communicate with one another via email. Email, in fact, is the most used form of online communication because it transmits information instantly, and allows its users to store their correspondence indefinitely. One of the biggest drawbacks of email, however, is that could allow strangers to strike up relationships with your kids.
It’s a sad reality of the online world that predators take full advantage of their anonymity to seek out and develop relationships with kids. While your son or daughter may believe he or she is sharing personal information with a kid of the same age and interests somewhere else in the country, the person receiving that information could be a sex offender communicating form an Internet caf in your own community.
What can you, as a parent, do to prevent this frightening scenario? You can start keeping track of your child’s email and chat room activities, so that you know the details about their online relationships.
Begin by having a conversation with your kids about where and when they first encountered different people online. Be especially attentive if you know your child has self-esteem issues, because predators are highly skilled at finding kids with low self-confidence and taking as much time as they need to build a sense of trust in those kids. They then take advantage of that trust in the most unimaginable ways.
As a concerned parent, you’ll be delighted to know that there are now several websites which will enable you to find out who is sending email to your kids. All they require is that you enter the email address from which the questionable communications are being sent. No name, address, or other identifying information is necessary.
On entering the email address, you’ll be provided with the identity, address, telephone number, and any other important background records of the person to whom the email address belongs. You’ll be especially interested in the background records, which will reveal if that person has any state or federal arrests. They will also indicate any criminal convictions and specify whether the person is a sex offender.
Your role as a parent is both the most difficult and most rewarding one you will ever play. By taking responsibility for your kids’ safety on the Internet, you will be going a very long way toward keeping them safe in your own home!