The Blog of P.U.R.E. and Sue Scheff

Would you know if your teen or child was being groomed by an online predator? Did you know: More than 500,000 predators are online everyday Kids 12 to 15 are susceptible to being groomed and manipulated by offenders online FBI stats show that more than 50% of victims of online sexual exploitation are 12-15 years old 89 % of all sexual advances towards our children take place in internet chat rooms and through instant messaging In (27%) of exploitation incidents, predators asked kids for sexual photographs of themselves. 4% of kids get “aggressive” sexual solicitations that included attempts to contact the kids offline How can you help protect your kids from online threats?  Communication is key.  Talk to your kids about sexual predators and potential online dangers. Use family safety settings that are built into Windows 8 , Windows 7 , and Windows Vista . Follow age limits on social networking websites. Most social networking sites require that users b...

Does your child, teen or do you venture into “Chat Rooms” online? Chat rooms are among the riskiest places on the Net for children and teens. Most Internet Predators are lingering waiting for their next victim in a variety of chat rooms. Don’t allow it to be your child. As a Parent Advocate , I encourage all parents to take the steps to educate your children about cyber safety with a strong emphasis on chat room safety. October is National Cyber Safety Awareness Month , which is a reason for you to set aside time to sit with your kids and discuss what lurks online. Here are some great Chat Room safety tips from Connect Safely to share with your family: Remember that what you say in a chat room or instant messaging session is live -- you can't take it back or delete it later. 1. Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want the public to know — this includes your full name, your address, phone number of other personal information. 2. Don't get together with someone you meet in a chat r...