Child Protection from Sexual Predators

If your child is in imminent danger, don’t hesitate to call 911.

Sexual abuse can happen to children of any race, socioeconomic group, religion or culture. It is important to do all we can to protect children from sexual abuse. If an incident occurs with your child, remember the perpetrator is the one to blame—not you and especially not the child.

Use these helpful tips to keep your children safe from Internet sexual predators:

• Become more computer literate and Internet savvy.
• Keep the computer in a "public" area in your house.
• Check out parental controls available on your online service. Install filtering/blocking software.
• Do not let your children have online profiels, in chat rooms, where pedophiles often search for prey.
• Tell your children to never "go private" into a private chat room.
• Tell your children to never give out personal information, including name, address, school they attend or teachers' names, parents' names, etc.
• Tell your children to never, never, never tell anyone where they will be or what they will be doing, and they may never meet someone from online without you.
• Tell your children to never respond to rude or offensive e-mail, messages, or postings.
• Do not allow your children to post, send, or receive pictures online.
• Monitor the amount of time your child spends on the Internet, and at what times of day.
• Tell your children to let you know if they are asked personal questions or if their online friend invites them someplace