- One third of teens have talked with strangers online about meeting in person
From a study of the behavior and experiences of teens and pre-teens (ages 8-18) on the Internet released by The Polly Klaas Foundation. And don’t miss the story of Justin Berry from Bakersfield, California – a shy computer geek who ended up being one of the Internet’s most sought after underage camwhores. It’s a truly disturbing tale reminiscent of the recent Dateline NBC/Perverted Justice sting operation.
I’d have to see the study. I hope it’s not like those church-burning stories from a few years back (remember those?) that counted any theft or vandalism, whether with fire or not, as a “burning.”
The key to the entire story was the following paragraph:
“Justin’s father also took an interest in his pornographic career. For a share of the profits, Justin says, Knute Berry procured prostitutes for Justin to have sex with in front of the webcam.”
The story isn’t how the Evil Internet turned him into a pervert by a non-involved mother who didn’t pay attention to what her son was doing and a father actively abusing him, at least mentally.
This was a fucked-up family BEFORE he got involved so it’s no big surprise the horror spread to other aspects.
Blogger Dawn Eden has been following the lunacy masquerading as sex advice on Planned Parenthood’s “Teenwire” website for some time. For a recent sample of what she has found there: http://www.dawneden.com/2005/12/planned-parenthood-tells-13-year.html
One of Dawn’s recurring complaints about Teenwire is that they have repeatedly suggested that teenagers can safely and anonymously “hook up” with one another online, and can use Internet chat rooms to discreetly find sexual partners, particularly homosexual partners.
The two stories that Kevin posted here illustrate just how incredibly dangerous the Internet can be for naive teens and kids. Every parent should read these two stories. And we should thank people like Dawn Eden for pointing out the abject stupidity of organizations like Planned Parenthood.
Keeping computers in a public area of the home is a good plan for anyone. I recommend it highly.
I second Synova.