Unfortunately, abuse of children on line is a fact. According to Deputy Director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Daniel Ragsdale, today, there is an increasing trend of kids being coaxed into sharing “sexually explicit material online.” Recently, when 14 men were arrested by American authorities for this behavior, Ragsdale said simply arresting the perpetrators was not the answer to solving this terrible trend. He argued: “we cannot arrest our way out of this: education is the key to prevention.”
While we are educating kids and their parents about this issue, there are preventive measures that can be taken as well. For example, eSafely is a parental control tool that works through the web browser, giving the entire family “complete online protection.” At no charge and simple to install, the tool protects children while they browse the Internet, “blocking harmful adult images, providing safe access to Youtube, Wikipedia and Safe Search, and protecting your child from cyberbullying on Facebook.”
Simultaneously to protective web tools, the Department of Education and Science is working toward full protection against cyber-abusers and bullies. It is doing this by working with schools and youth groups to give kids the tools to ensure their own safety online. Indeed, in February a Safer Internet Day was organized by Insafe and attended by the Ministry for Education and Garda representatives. The aim of the event was to “communicate the message to students that the internet is not a safe space for bullies or others looking to take advantage of young people online.”
