Real-Life Examples of Children Engaging with the Internet

Software developers have long sought opportunities to profit from the trend toward increasing reliance on technology in people's daily lives, especially in the form of computers, for both personal gain and the expansion of the IT sector overall. Among these are platforms and websites catered to the youth of today, such as online social networks and public chat rooms. Given the everyday traffic these receive, it's safe to assume that these are sought-after by today's youth.

Despite the fact that chatting online (even if it's largely text) is a great way to meet new people, there are risks involved. To mention just a few examples, there is exploitation, extortion, pornography, sexual approaches, etc. Because kids are far easier to fool than grownups, abusers often act with the assurance that comes from knowing they are dealing with innocent minds.

These have really occurred, with a disproportionate number of reports coming from the US. A teenage girl from Texas has filed a lawsuit against MySpace, a global social networking site where users may connect with people from all over the globe. Images, videos, and other forms of multimedia can be added to a MySpace profile. Computers and technology have made it easy to create a false profile of someone.

This adolescent girl's sexual assault by an older teen she met on MySpace is the basis of her lawsuit. Apparently, this man created a phony MySpace profile and uploaded false photos and information. He found her MySpace profile, which led to their online meeting; he then obtained her phone number, and the assault occurred when they met in person.

Just so you know, the girl's lawsuit was unsuccessful. If you want to keep these kinds of things from happening, you should be very careful, particularly in online chat rooms and social media sites like MySpace. The case study demonstrates how persistent online dangers are. But that shouldn't stop people of all ages from surfing the web; what is crucial is that they be careful, which this youngster obviously wasn't.

Plus, the girl lied about her age—she said she was 18 when she was really just 13—so no one would believe her. Only users aged 14 and up are granted access to MySpace. These behaviors demonstrate that the girl was careless and put herself in harm's way by pretending to be older than she was and engaging in flirtation with other male members.

Theft attempts involving MySpace users via phishing emails containing fake HTML code (users of MySpace are able to insert their own HTML code into their profiles for personalization purposes) are just one example of the many instances involving social networking sites and instant messaging chat rooms.

However, some users are minors, and as a result, they may be inadvertently disclosing personal information such as their location, phone number, and email addresses. Most kids don't know what an HTML code is or how it works, therefore they have no idea what the potential effects are.

The number of incidents of minors being exploited in online chat rooms or social media is significantly higher. No one has the right to invade your personal space, especially not your children, because anyone can exploit them to obtain what they want. No matter how strange or unpopular it may sound now, protecting kids may require limiting their time online.

It is clear from the girl's case that her parents weren't very careful either, since she was able to get away with being someone she wasn't. Had the girl and her parents exercised more caution, the likelihood of the conduct occurring as it did could have been diminished.