Protect Your Kids from Online Predators
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In many ways the omnipresence of the internet has improved daily life and increased our abilities to learn, communicate, and create new content. However, one of the downfalls of the internet revolution is the emergence of online predators. Kids are using the internet at younger ages and spending more time online than ever before. According to I-safe.org, in a study of 36,000 kids in grades 5 through 12, 80 of students said they spent at least an hour online every week. 55 of these kids also said they have given out personal information to someone they met online.The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children conducted a study in 2006 to measure the prevalence of online sexual solicitation. Of the children surveyed, 34 said they were exposed to unwanted sexual material and 40 said someone online had asked them for nude or sexually explicit photographs of themselves. Kids are such an easy target because they are often happy to receive attention and might not recognize the danger of such a situation. The innocence of a young child could also lead them to look past the dangers of having a conversation with an unknown adult, who claims to want to be their friend. Read the rest of this entry »
Property Crime Rates Declining in the US: Help Continue the Trend
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While violent crime rates are holding steady or even increasing, in the last several decades, the occurrence of property crimes is decreasing. Property crimes include burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft. In 1980 there was a total of 12,064,000 property crimes nationwide, according the U.S. Census Bureau. By 2007, this number was done around 25 to 9,843,000. The incidence of burglary, larceny, and motor vehicle theft were all lower. One of the likely causes of this positive trend is the advancement of home security systems. Thirty years ago these devices were much less common, now the majority of new homes built have some sort of security system. With communication technology that immediately notifies the security company and local law enforcement, homes armed with a security system are much less likely to be attacked. Read the rest of this entry »
Know What You’re Up Against: National Violent Crime Trends
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Every parent’s biggest fear is something terrible happening to their children. The recent emergence of online predators has just added one more thing to the long list of worries for moms and dads around the country. America has a bad reputation of having very high crime rates, and unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be much improvement in the number of violent crimes in this country. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, in 1980 there were 1,345,000 violent crimes nationwide and it 2007 that number was up slightly to 1,408,000. Violent crimes are defined as murder, forcible rape, robbery, or aggravate assault. One piece of good news, there was a peak in crime from about 1990 to 1997, but most of the numbers reported during that time period have since fallen. To understand these numbers on a smaller scale, in 2007, for every 100,000 people there were 467 violent crimes. Read the rest of this entry »