When the news is filled with reports of stimulus money being spent on executive bonuses, lavish corporate retreats, and practically anything but helping the average American, it’s nice to see that some of the stimulus money is being spent wisely.

Govtech.com is reporting that $50 million in stimulus money is going to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP). According to Govtech.com, these dollars are meant to:

Help ICACs develop an effective response against cyber-enticement and child pornography, mostly by hiring new officers or allowing agencies to retain current personnel.

Cyber-enticement is detective-speak for online predators trying to lure your children away from the safety of your home and into sexual relationships with them. Though there seems to be some disagreement among academics as to whether online predators constitute a widespread threat, law enforcement seems pretty serious about stopping it.

PBS recently broadcast a documentary called Growing Up Online in which they state that online sexual exploitation of children is “a crime problem that has grown exponentially over the years and continues to grow every year.” They interviewed Peter Brust, the FBI special agent in charge of Counterintelligence and Cyber Divisions at the Los Angeles FBI field office, who speaks on the supposed “hysteria” surrounding online predators:

Whether it’s one in five children solicited online, whether it’s one in seven, what price do you put on that one child that is victimized? The crime problem is on the rise and has been for the last 12 years. I don’t see any indications that it’s going to be diminished in any sense, no matter how much publicity is given the crime problem and the so-called “Internet predator hysteria.”

Deputies in central Florida seem to not agree with the “hysteria” argument either, as they are warning parents who are forced to leave their kids home alone for spring break about the threat online predators pose. They know, as we do, that one in seven children aged 10-17 have received sexual solicitation over the internet according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Talking to your children about online dangers is always the first step. But there’s much more you can do as a parent. The majority of online solicitations still occur via chat, and Safe Eyes gives parents the ability to record their children’s IM chats and compiles them into easily-accessible reports. If you think that’s going too far, just listen to what convicted online predators have told Brust:

“I can’t believe that parents do not monitor their child’s online use, that they don’t know their passwords, that they aren’t standing over their shoulder. Because that’s what I look for: I look for the child that’s online at midnight; I look for that child that’s more open, that’s more vulnerable.”

Obviously parents can’t stand over their children’s shoulders all the time, and with the monitoring and peace of mind that Safe Eyes offers, they don’t have to.

Filed under: Internet Safety News