Beware Online Predators

There is something very frightening going on that most parents don't know about. While most people do realize that there are internet predators, they really don't understand how many and what kind of organized groups they hang out in. The fact is that there are pedophiles and sex offenders all over the internet. Many of these sex offenders and pedophiles are very proud of their actions and thoughts; in fact, there are groups of these offenders trying to change laws in order to be able to indulge their sexual desires. Most of them are convicted criminals and travel in circles of other convicted criminals – doing what? They are looking for vulnerable children online. This is a terrifying thought, isn't it? As parents, you need to be very proactive to keep your children safe. Here are some important tips to keep your kids safe online. 

• Do not allow your children to post pictures of themselves online. Do not post pictures of your children on any social networking sites. Predators have been known to take pictures from online albums and post them on pedophile websites. 

• Pay very close attention to the people that your children communicate with online. Many pedophiles and sex offenders try and lure children into conversation. According to many experts, pedophiles will speak to a child or adolescent for weeks or months before trying to set up a meeting with them. 

• Should you find a suspicious person is e-mailing, chatting or instant messaging your teenager or child, you should find out who it is. There are some very easy ways to do this. The first thing you should do is visit one of the websites that allow you to perform an instant background check on someone – even with just their e-mail address. One of these websites is www.reverserecords.org. 

With this website, you can enter an e-mail address and find out if that person has ever been convicted of any sort of crime. You will also find out their name, address and phone number along with local and nationwide arrest and conviction information. This will tell you if you should be worried about this person that your child is speaking to. Obviously, if it is an adult, you should be nervous. There is no reason for an adult to chat, message or e-mail a child that they have met online. 

Should you find that the person you are searching has been convicted of a crime, especially a sex offender crime; you should report them to your local police as well as your FBI immediately. A large percentage of sex offenders will commit another crime, talk to another child, view pictures of children online and many more horrifying things. Reporting these people to the proper law authorities is imperative. They are violating the law if they are talking to your child. Check them out. Find out who they really are with the method explained above. Make sure your child is safe. Unfortunately, a parent cannot be too careful if they want to keep their children safe from harm.