As schools close their doors for the summer, many children head off to camp or spend their days at community swimming pools.  But with their days often wide-open, many kids will also have more time to spend on the family computer, often unsupervised. 

While parents, of course, need to take an active role in keeping their children safe online year round, the summer is a good time to highlight ways to do just that.  Which is why we created Summer Safety Week, May 18^th – 24^th, and will meet with state officials and child advocates to educate parents and children about the potential danger of newer technologies, like social networking sites, pdas and mapping systems (think Facebook and Street View).  Internet predators, sadly, can use sites like these to take advantage of unsuspecting children. 

More details on our Summer Safety awareness campaign will be available in the coming weeks.  If you would like to contact us or receive emails about Stop Internet Predators click here. 

Bullying is a sad fact of life for many children, and unfortunately, bullies have gone high-tech and are now online.  Cyberbullies, as they’re called, hide behind the relative anonymity of the Internet to intimidate, insult and even share nude photos of classmates, without much fear of consequence.  Technology makes it easier to do and say thing we might not do in person, which is why cases of cyber-harassment are at an all time high.  Experts who study the issue say this modern incarnation of bullying can be more damaging to victims than traditional tactics like fist fights and classroom taunts.

But parents and educators can fight back by following five simple rules:     

• Teach teens to respect one another online and abide by good behavior.  The web is a lot more public and permanent than it seems.
• Remind teens they can come to you when something makes them feel uncomfortable without fear of losing their Internet privileges.
• Place the family computer in a common place in your house and use family safety software so you can restrict websites and monitor contacts.
• Encourage teens to never physically meet with anyone they have only become “friends” with online. 
• Ensure teens know not to share personal information online, including their address, phone number, etc.

Remember, the majority of teens have a cell phone and constant access to the Internet.  Help them safeguard their reputations and emotional maturity, something that will stay with them the rest of their lives. 

On August 31, 1987, my eight year old brother was kidnapped and murdered by a repeat violent sexual offender.  Ryan was taken right from our backyard.  What my family and I faced that summer of 1987 was horrific to say the least, but we have worked very hard to ensure that Ryan’s death was not in vain and that we hold child predators accountable for their crimes.

Today, with emerging technology, we are seeing a different kind of predator.  Predators now have different avenues to offend against our children.  Technology has given predators the ability to lure our children, all the while keeping their true identities a secret from their potential victim. As we have seen, many of these cases have tragic outcomes and leave families and communities devastated. That is why Ryan United stands with Stop Internet Predators to ensure that there are programs in place to protect children, families and communities against these horrific crimes.  It is vital that we recognize the potential dangers that can happen when our children are exposed to new technologies.  It is vital that we create education programs that ensure that people understand these potential dangers and know what to do if they are ever faced with this unthinkable circumstance.

Technology is a must in our society; we all rely on it for our day-to –day activities. But while the majority of technology is used for good, it is vital that we understand and stand together against the potential dangers that it poses to our children and communities.

Derek VanLuchene
President/Founder
Ryan United
www.ryanunited.org

When a Street View camera crew drove through a town in Broughton in Cambridgeshire, England, residents “welcomed” the vehicle by forming a human barrier across the road preventing the camera crew from taking photos of the neighborhood’s houses.  Residents say they’re concerned about their privacy, rightfully so, and called the new technology an “invitation for burglars to strike.” 

The Street View mapping application captures photographs of every day life, from neighborhood streets to the people who live there.  And the people who live there say the application captures too much.  For example, a picture in Birmingham shows a guy urinating in public.  More revealing still, is the photograph of a naked toddler in a North London park.  In another example, a man is photographed walking into a sex shop in Amsterdam.

While Google has promised to blur the images of anyone caught on film outside their homes, residents have a right to be angry.  After all, Google didn’t ask permission to take pictures, and in a potential worse-case situation, children’s safety is being risked by featuring their photos.

Just another example showing the importance of safeguarding new technologies before they come into our neighborhoods.