{"id":22402,"date":"2023-06-13T17:40:12","date_gmt":"2023-06-13T17:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/?p=22402"},"modified":"2023-06-27T17:47:04","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:47:04","slug":"protecting-kids-from-online-sexual-solicitation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/protecting-kids-from-online-sexual-solicitation\/","title":{"rendered":"Protecting Children &amp; Adolescents From Online Sexual Solicitation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Caregivers tell us they are both supportive and wary of their youth\u2019s online involvement. Children, preteens, and teens go online to do homework, grab an Uber, socialize, play games, and find out information about any topic \u2014 from sports to babysitting jobs to dating and sex.<\/p><h2 id=\"what-is-online-sexual-solicitation\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Is Online Sexual Solicitation?<\/h2><p>Online abuse, however, is more common than we might like to think, so it\u2019s important to understand how it happens. According to several different research studies, between one in five and one in eleven youth (ages 10-17) have been sexually solicited online. According to the Journal of the American Medical Association, females and teens (ages 14-17) are more likely to be solicited.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"BLOOM + Kids in The House Present \/\/ Being Manipulated\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/nzKwkmXvCtI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p>A sexual solicitation might be a simple request like \u201cWhat are you wearing?\u201d or \u201cWhat is your bra size?\u201d Or, it can be a more aggressive online solicitation where a child is invited to game at someone\u2019s house \u2014 and that someone has ill intentions.<\/p><h2 id=\"what-online-predators-need\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Online Predators Need<\/h2><p>The more a child uses the internet, the more likely they are to be solicited. For abuse to take place, online predators need access to and privacy with children, preteens, and teens.<\/p><h3 id=\"online-access\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Online Access<\/h3><p>Ninety-five percent of youth (ages 12-17) use social networking sites, and chat rooms<sup>[1]<\/sup>, giving online predators tremendous access to minors. Even children under five are going online at least once a week<sup>[2]<\/sup>.<\/p><h3 id=\"privacy\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Privacy<\/h3><p>With privacy and anonymity, predators engage youth across multiple media platforms, from chat rooms to gaming sites to instant messaging. In fact, according to one survey, 89% of sexual solicitations targeting youth were made in chat rooms or through instant message<sup>[3]<\/sup>.<\/p><p>Gaming also allows for private interactions, and 97% of preteens and teens (ages 12-17) play online games.<\/p><p>While researchers are still learning about the nuances of online grooming behavior, solicitation may include direct requests for chat, information, sexual activity, in-person meetings, or exposure to sexual materials.<\/p><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"NCMEC Sextortion 60sec\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NzKLcvUQAqA?start=48&#038;feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><h2 id=\"who-online-predators-target\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Who Online Predators Target<\/h2><p>Based on research by the leading experts in child sexual abuse prevention, predators seek youths with a history of sexual or physical abuse who post sexually provocative photos or videos, who talk about sex online with people they do not know, and\/or who feel alienated or alone. Boys who are gay or who are questioning their sexual orientation are also vulnerable if they seek out information and connection online<sup>[5]<\/sup>.<\/p><h2 id=\"what-constitutes-of-risky-online-behaviors\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">What Constitutes of Risky Online Behaviors<\/h2><p>Predators specifically look for kids who engage in four risky online behaviors<sup>[6]<\/sup>.<\/p><ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Communicating with unknown people.<\/li>\n\n<li>Sharing personal information with unknown people. More than half of all teens have given out personal info online to someone they don\u2019t know, including photos and physical descriptions<sup>[7]<\/sup>.<\/li>\n\n<li>Talking about sex online.<\/li>\n\n<li>Meeting online friends in the outside world.<\/li><\/ul><p>Even youth who are not engaging in risky behaviors can be vulnerable in the \u201cWild West\u201d of the online world. Seventy percent of kids (ages 8-18) have encountered pornography online accidentally, sometimes by entering a seemingly benign search term as part of a homework assignment<sup>[8]<\/sup>.<\/p><h2 id=\"explore-more-about-protecting-your-young-person-against-sexual-solicitation\" class=\"wp-block-heading\">Explore More About Protecting Your Young Person Against Sexual Solicitation<\/h2><p>Learn how to help protect your preteen or teen online. BLOOM is here to help, whether you are looking for tips on <a href=\"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/sexting-how-to-teach-digital-responsibility-keep-your-teen-safe\/\">talking with your kids about internet safety<\/a>, tech security tips to protect them online, or even in-depth and personalized <a href=\"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/ask-the-expert-coming-soon\/\">Q&amp;As<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/workshops-coming-soon\/\">workshops<\/a>. Raising young people is hard enough. We are here to help demystify and provide support!<\/p><p><em>This article was originally published on Feather Berkower, LCSW, and only minimally edited for clarity. Read the article in its <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/parentingsafechildren.com\/resources\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>original publication<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p><p><strong>Sources<\/strong><br>1. Lenhart A. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.pewinternet.org\">www.pewinternet.org<\/a>, Nov 2013.<br>2. Lenhart A. Social media and young adults. Pew Internet and American Life Project, 2010.<br>3. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.guardchild.com\/statistics\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">http:\/\/www.guardchild.com\/statistics<\/a><br>4. Lenhart A. Teens, video games, and civics. Pew Internet &amp; American Life Project, 2008.<br>5. Wolak J, Finkelhor D, Mitchell K, Ybarra M. Online \u201cpredators\u201d and their victims: myths, realities, and implications for prevention and treatment. American Psychologist, 2008; 63, 111-128.<br>6. Mitchell, K.J., Finkelhor, D., N Wolak, J. Youth internet users at risk for the most serious online sexual solicitations. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 2007; 32, 532-536.<br>7. Social Media and Young Adults. Pew Internet &amp; American Life Project, Feb. 2010. 8. Kaiser Foundation, 2006<\/p><ol class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><\/li><\/ol>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A guide to understanding online sexual solicitation, and how to protect your young person from online predators.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":194,"featured_media":22404,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[91],"tags":[],"powerkit_post_featured":[],"coauthors":[356],"class_list":{"0":"post-22402","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-digital-life"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/194"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22402"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=22402"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bloomforall.com\/parent\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=22402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}