Responses to Questions

Tamlin Engle asks… “Are there any statistics that the shows like Dateline are helping the problem of sexual predators? Also what are the different suggestions about how to protect your children from these sexual predators?”

The show, To Catch A Predator, hosted by Chris Hansen is defiantly helping to solve the problem of sexual predators. The number of sexual predators that live among us is such a huge number. Law officials estimate that there are as many as 50,000 sexual predators online at any given moment. (2006) Dateline has been doing the show for over three years now and has caught 200 predators. We all need to make a stand, and show these predators that this is unacceptable and they will be caught. There are many things parents can do to protect their children from these predators. Parents need to make their children aware of the problem and the consequences of their actions with people online. These are some of the things parents can do; look for secretive or changing behavior, phone calls or packages sent from adults you don’t know, and be aware of the amount of time your child spends online.

References
(2006) How to Protect Your Child Online. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from http://www.familyfirst.net/internetguide/dangers.htm

Hansen, C. (2007) Reflections on 'To Catch a Predator'. Retrieved May 1, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17601568/

Kelly Byke asks… “I like your lit review; I was wondering if you know if there are any laws against using false identity/false representation of a person with electronic communication? If there were more laws out there against this, perhaps people would be more hesitant towards using a false identity online, and maybe prevent more internet crimes from occurring!”

There are laws against using false identity/false representation of a person on the internet. This is a very serious issue that is not taken lightly in court. In Arizona if you take the identity of another person it’s a class 4 felony, which means imprisonment for 2 to 10 years and a fine of up to $100,000. Taking a person’s identity for the purpose of committing a crime is a serious concern and violates the victim and can cause huge financial losses. There needs to be more effective solutions for catching these criminals, in order to help solve this epidemic.

References
(2007) The Identity Theft Advisor. Retrieved May 3, 2007 from http://www.identity-theft-advisor.com/state-laws.htm

Joe Persichina asks… “Identity changing sounds intresting. Do you think it is healthy for someone to constantly change their identity, or will it make their maturing process as a person slow and difficult? It is good to express yourself, but do you think people take advantage of changing identities online? Stalkers, and child abusers alter their identities to lure in their prey. Is it safe?”

I don’t think that changing your identity is necessarily a good or bad thing, if done with good intentions. I think growing up everyone has changed their identity from time to time. I know I have growing up, when chatting online you may enhance your features or lied about some characteristic about yourself. There was never any attention to do or commit any harm though. I think that it becomes unhealthy when people spend their entire day and life online. It’s always good for you to express yourself, even if that’s done online. But people get so into these online communities that they began to take over their life. When people are changing everything about themselves and deceiving people is when there is a problem. The internet is not a very safe place for anyone, and everyone needs to use caution when accessing.

Greg Young asks… “Being able to express themselves more in a digital world has its pluses, but does your research mention which environment is best for shaping one's identity?”

I couldn’t really find any information on the best environment for shaping ones identity. But I think that online dating sites are one of the ways of putting your identity online. Think about all the information you put on their about yourself, your basically marketing yourself to someone else. You have to answer numerous amounts of questions, and fill out these questionnaires. Even just any online community such as Facebook or MySpace, gives you the opportunity to express yourself to the world. These sites offer many ways to shape your identity. You only add information that you want people to see. You create everything on your site, true or not, and people can only think that what they see or read is true.

Reasons for altering Identity

Identity is the concrete and defining aspect of who we are. Without identity we have no way of discerning the differences between one another. With the birth of the internet it has allowed people of all ages and genders the opportunity to experiment with their identities. You can alter your identity by just changing a few things, or you can take it to the extreme by changing your age, personality, physical appearance, and even your gender. Many identity researchers regard the self and identity as two different, yet related constructs. They assume that while individuals have only one self, they have many different identities. (Valkenburg, 2005) There are many characteristics in why people are stimulated to change their identity while communicating online. People say and do things in cyberspace that they would never do in a face to face interaction. Some people loosen up and express themselves more openly, such as secret emotions, fears, and dreams. Others become very abusive, using foul language, harsh criticisms, and even going as far as making threats. These acts sometimes good or bad are very hard for people to explore in the real world, so they turn to cyberspace. There are several factors that are involved when a person decides to alter their identity.

References
Valkenburg, P.M. (2005) Adolescents’ identity experiments on the internet. SAGE Publications, Vol7, 383-402.

Anonymity and Invisibility

When people move around the Internet, the people they encounter can’t easily determine who you are. They don’t know your real name, who you are, where your from. This allows you the opportunity to hide all or some of your identity, or alter it. When people have the opportunity to separate their actions online from their in-person lifestyle and identity, they feel less vulnerable about self-disclosing and acting out. Whatever they say or do can’t be directly linked to the rest of their lives. (Suler, 2004) People think they don’t have to be responsible for their behaviors because they can not be identified. Invisibility is another huge factor in why people alter their identity and do things that are out of character, that they would not do in a face to face encounter. In online environments people can not see each other, giving people the freedom to go or do whatever they wish. When people talk face to face we judge the other persons reactions on what were saying based on their facial and body language. So if someone is frowning or making a sigh, a person may be reluctant to express any more information. But online you can’t see each other or the expressions, which allow people to open up and disclose information. The information they disclose though could be true or false.
References
Suler, J. (2004) The Online Disinhibition Effect. Cyber Psychology & Behavior, Vol 7, NO 3, 321-326.

Sexual Predators

One of the attractions of the Internet is the anonymity of the user, and this is why it can be very dangerous. Often we think of pedophiles as having access to children out on the playground and other places, but because of the way the Internet works, children can actually be interacting on their home computers with adults who pretend to be children. With children spending more and more time on the Internet chatting with friends, and exploring the Internet. It opens many doors for sexual predators to enter these innocent children lives, posing as their friend, trying to take advantage of them. According to Chris Hansen, an Dateline NBC reported, a recent study found that one in five children online is approached by a sexual predator, a predator who may try to set up a face to face meeting. This is a huge problem in our society, and many people and originations are trying to find ways to identify and block sexual predators. The most common way these predators contact children is through chat rooms, instant messages, and chat rooms. In February 2007, MySpace.com said it will donate its Sentinel Safe database software to the National centre for Missing & Exploited Children. The program promises to let Web sites to identify convicted sex offenders and bar them from their online communities. The database holds 600,000 registered sex offenders in the US, and designed to update from offender registries. We need to stop these predators at all costs, and send a message to them that this is not acceptable and they will be caught and punished.
References
Hansen, Chris. (2004) Dangers Children Face Online. Retrieved April 5, 2007, from http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6083442
(2007) MySpace Donates Tools to Block Predators. Retrieved April 5, 2007, from http://www.smh.com.au/news/Technology/MySpace-Donates-Tools-to-Block-Predators/2007/02/01/1169919442593.html