In the past two weeks, there have been two people arrested in the Yukon for attempted child luring. The first was a 30 year old man in Pelly and in the second incidence, an 18 year old was arrested in Whitehorse. As a youth charity that does work in the area of digital citizenship, we have been asked to comment on this and to provide advice for parents who are concerned.
The first thing we want to tell parents is this: don’t panic! These are isolated incidences and most young people are unlikely to ever interact with a online predator. The internet is an important tool for youth to interact with their peers, especially now that online and offline lives are becoming more interconnected.
With that said, here are some basic recommendations for keeping your child safe online:
1) Maintain an open and honest dialogue with your children regarding their internet usage and be prepared to work through any challenges together. From our experience, the more open that parents remain, the more likely that children are to talk to them before things become a problem.
2) Remember that most strangers your child speaks to online are not predators, but that they do exist. If your child ever does want to meet a new friend in person, always make sure you accompany them, to ensure that they are who they claim to be. Maintaining an open dialogue will help to ensure that your child feels comfortable to tell you about their plans and won’t act in secret.
3) Keep yourself informed on the technology that’s out there. You may wish to put a system in place to remove access to the internet over-night. This could include taking cell-phones and/or disconnecting the internet.
And remember, if you ever have a concern that someone might be targetting you or your child, the RCMP are just a phone call away!
Resources:
BYTE’s Executive Director, Chris Rider, speaking about raising positive digital citizens at TedX Whitehorse:
Outsmarting Online Child Predators
Raising Children in a Digital Age: Advice for parents
Parents Guide to Protecting Young People Online