[LM_NET] More on fear mongering

[Nancy Willard <nwillard@CSRIU.ORG>]

After I posted my concerns about excessive fear mongering, someone sent me
the link to this article:

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/02/06/eveningnews/main1286130.shtml

Note it says:

"The Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported more than 2,600
incidents last year of adults using the Internet to entice children. With
numbers like that, you'd think all parents would be hovering over their
kids, wanting to know what they're doing online. But authorities say many
parents are clueless about their kids' MySpace profiles."

To put this into perspective. According to 2006 CPS data, there are
approximately 25.5 million 12-17 year-olds in U.S. households with access to
telephones. Of them, 93%, or approximately 23 million, are online. Of those
online, 55%, or approximately 13 million have set up a social
networking account.

So let me get my handy-dandy calculator: 0.02% A far cry from the one in
seven young people sexually solicited online data that is bantered about.

Let's look at some other statistics
http://www.rainn.org/statistics/index.html?gclid=CLD9p8_hgo8CFSiaYAod_xCK3g:

Key Facts
    €    Every two and a half minutes, somewhere in America, someone is
sexually assaulted.
    €    One in six American women are victims of sexual assault, and one in
33 men.
    €    In 2004-2005, there were an average annual 200,780 victims of rape,
attempted rape or sexual assault.
    €    About 44% of rape victims are under age 18, and 80% are under age
30.

Contrary to the belief that rapists are hiding in the bushes or in the
shadows of the parking garage, almost two-thirds of all rapes were committed
by someone who is known to the victim. 73% of sexual assaults were
perpetrated by a non-stranger ‹ 38% of perpetrators were a friend or
acquaintance of the victim, 28% were an intimate and 7% were another
relative.
National Crime Victimization Survey, 2005

There are a significant number of young people who are being sexually abused
in our country. And we all need to be concerned about this. The vast, vast,
vast majority are being sexually abused by family members or acquaintances.
We are not recommending that young people not attend family reunions, not
play team sports, not go to school, not go to church youth groups, or not go
home at night if their mother's new boyfriend is present. And they are FAR
more likely to end up being sexually abused under these situations than
online.

So when an FBI agent reportedly told a group in NY that social networking
sites are so dangerous no teen should be on them, I personally consider this
excessive, unwarranted fear-mongering - that is unsupported by the data!

Nancy
-- 
Nancy Willard, M.S., J.D.
Center for Safe and Responsible Internet Use
http://csriu.org
http://cyberbully.org
http://cyber-safe-kids.com
nwillard@csriu.org

Cyberbullying and Cyberthreats: Responding to the Challenge of Online Social
Aggression, Threats, and Distress (Research Press)

Cyber-Safe Kids, Cyber-Savvy Teens: Helping Young People Learn to Use the
Internet Safely and Responsibly (Jossey-Bass)

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