The Internet as we know it is indeed a world of its own and some unfortunate societal trends are also prevalent online.
One of the bad folks to watch out for online are child predators who lurk around the Internet looking for vulnerable children and teenagers on the that they can take advantage of.
A child’s encounter with a Child predator online is capable of leading him or her to being kidnapped, robbed, defiled and the reason this can easily happen is because, children, in their young minds, cannot easily discern when, or who to divulge private information to.
Examples of their strategy include posting photos of the child online, sharing flattering thoughts about the child on social media to gain the child’s confidence, spreading lies & rumours, impersonation to force the child into acceptance, tricks the child into revealing more and more of his/her information as well as those of their parents and the list goes on.
Two men, Ahmed Balogun aka Jimoh Balo and Olanrewaju Olufemi aka Bobbman77 were among 25 suspects arrested in a sting operations by the Houston Dept. of Police and High Tech Crime team in Harris County, Houston, United States.
Investigators say there strategy is to use the Internet and social media to solicit minors but unknown to them officers where planted in the undercover operations that got them caught.
This unfortunate incidence simply proves that Child predators are everywhere and we must all watch out. They are armed with a lot of tricks that can easily deceive children.
It, in fact, gets to a stage where the Child predator starts to send threatening messages to bring the child to submission once enough information to blackmail the child has been gathered.
This usually takes a while to occur but the end is usually catastrophic, hence, parents must monitor what their children do online.
The reality is that each time your child goes online unsupervised, he or she is exposed to people they do not know.
Here are some recommendations to Parents and Guardians:
1. Do not leave your child to roam about all parts of the Internet alone
2. Use certain apps to block them to from visiting some websites
3. Always try to know who their online friends are
4. Watch out for any changes in your child’s demeanour whenever they are online
5. Reinforce in the minds of your children, that they must not talk to strangers online
Fortunately, the Child Rights Act, a UN law which Nigeria adopted in 2003 can certainly serve as a deterrent http://punchng.com/tough-punishment-for-sex-offenders/
But due to the nature of the Internet and Social Media today, it is best for Parents to know the tricks Child Predators employ online and ultimately create buffers to protect minors.
