Meryl's Notes Blog

I think this Easton Courier article covers an important issue for all of us to be aware of. My daughter is an active online chatter and she found her way to MySpace, a trendy site for her friends and kids in her age group. Unfortunately, it’s a gold mine for the pedophiles.

Since I knew she chatted online a lot, I asked her what sites she uses on a regular basis. I looked at them and her profiles. I talked to her about grown ups who pose as kids and even use kids’ photos for “proof.” I also sent statistics from a police officer who talks about the topic. Here are the stats (source unknown):

The average teen is online an average of 5.5 hours a day.

65% of teens and children receive indecent solicitations in Chat rooms, another 24% in Instant Messenger.

The FBI reports there is a 100% chance of a child meeting a predator in a chat room.

75% of teens report sharing personal information about themselves and family to strangers in chat rooms or on blogging sites, such as Xanga and My Space.

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