Local police urge parents to closely monitor children's online habits
By Bruce Barton, Town Crier Staff Writer
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Susan Anderson had seen enough. The 3-year Los Altos police officer was coming across an increasing number of cases dealing with Internet predators - unknown figures who could live next door or in another country connecting with young girls and boys over the Internet to arrange for sex. Anderson last year dealt with the case of a Los Altos girl who was being blackmailed by an Internet predator into having intimate relations.
“I didn’t want to see any more victims,” Anderson said. “We needed to do something about it.”
So Anderson, working with schools resource officer John Korges, developed a program to increase local awareness of Internet predators. The program, launched last November, involves Anderson and Korges, an 8-year member of the force, discussing the lurking online dangers and predator prevention tips with as many as three groups a month. The audiences have included parent communities at schools such as Springer, Covington and Almond. Last week, the two did a presentation for members of the Rotary Club of Los Altos.
The information provided is not positive, nor is it presented in a sugar-coated fashion: The officers trade off an array of statistics and anecdotes impressing upon their audiences that online predators translate to genuine threats to local youth. This is especially true for low-crime areas such as Los Altos where some are lulled into a false sense of security.
As a result, Korges noted many parents allow their children to use the Internet freely. He compared it to leaving out a loaded gun and walking away.
“(With Internet predators) you can be a victim with your door locked and your windows shut,” he said.
Liberal access to chat rooms and instant messaging have left youth at risk to predators who often take the guise of a friend who understands their problems.
Some children provide personal profiles and even pictures over the Internet, easily playing into the predators’ hands. Children are also susceptible to predators through online interactive video games.
Parents often are left out of the loop, cozy in their denial of their children’s issues, officers said.
Chatting with strangers
At last week’s Rotary meeting, Korges and Anderson played the tape of a 14-year-old victim who told a chat room stranger information she wouldn’t divulge to parents or friends. She gave out her home address and phone number. The predator met her and attempted to abduct her, but was arrested. She found out after his arrest that he was wanted for the murders of two teen girls.
Korges, who has two young daughters of his own, encourages parents to be actively involved in their children’s Internet habits. “It starts in the home,” he said. “It has to because we have to change the thought process of the Internet. (Knowing your children’s activities) is not spying. It’s called being a parent.”
Children, possessing a feeling of “invincibility” along with insatiable curiosity, “will click on anything. They want to know,” Korges said. Discernment and questions of trust are not qualities most children possess unless properly coached, Korges and Anderson related.
Part of educating youth is teaching them to understand that appearances can be deceiving, as are the characters Internet predators often make up. The stereotypical image of a dirty old man in a trench coat accounts for less than 10 percent of all cases, the officers told a parents group earlier in the year. Many predators are successful in the business world - respected doctors, lawyers and teachers. And they aren’t all men. Anderson recalled a woman predator who was “a prominent member of the PTA.”
“They want to decimate innocence,” Korges said. “It’s not about sex - it’s about power, it’s about control. To them, (the child) is nothing more than an object.”
Numbers of predators
Korges and Anderson added the magnitude of these actions and the numbers of predators is larger than most people think and is getting bigger all the time. They cited 147 convicted sex offenders currently in Sunnyvale, another 168 in Mountain View. Los Altos has six.
“We track only those convicted,” Korges said. “What about the ones I didn’t catch? Sexual offenders don’t read city limit signs, and they share information.” The number of convicted offenders throughout the state could fill Stanford Stadium, according to Korges and Anderson.
Anderson assumes the identity of a 10- to 12-year-old girl in a chat room to build cases against offenders. She reported receiving as many as 20 hits in half an hour.
Denial ‘rampant’
Such subject matter isn’t easy on the ears. Some presentations have drawn only a handful of parents. One parent at a recent presentation became upset at Anderson and Korges for their graphic descriptions of some of the cases. However, most have adopted a “somber appreciation” for the officers’ efforts to educate.
“Sadly, most parents assume that their kids are not involved with this sort of thing,” wrote parent Susan Lam. “I can tell you that denial is rampant. An audience of only four people (at one Korges/Anderson talk) is not very encouraging either, I might add.”
Although she has yet to attend a presentation, Lam said she intends to do so. “However, I have spoken to several parents from Oak School in Los Altos and I have heard very positive responses from them regarding this program. My sense, (and I hope my sense is wrong this time), is that this program has not been well attended. At any rate, what I had tried to convey to Susan Anderson was how surprised I was that parents (especially in this high-tech area) are so naive about this. Virtually everyone thinks that their kids are somehow immune to this type of thing, including an immunity to everything else that kids must confront at far too young an age like sex and drugs. Or, perhaps they are just too afraid or embarrassed to talk about these things. Who knows for sure. “
“Their presentation was extremely helpful,” said Blach Junior High parent Debbie Torok. “Susan’s ability to give firsthand experience with intercepting Internet predators gives tremendous credibility to what they are talking about. Most of what you hear sounds like something that would never happen to your family. However after their presentation you understand that it can. That’s the key to awareness now to reduce or eliminate the possibility.”
As a result of Korges and Anderson’s presentation, the Torok household cut down on the number of “buddy lists” for her daughter, moved the family computer to a more visible area and talked with other children about the dangers.
Los Altos Police Chief Don Johnson remains a supporter. “I do think it’s a fantastic program, one that every parent should know about,” he said. “It’s a program that can take hold because this is a community that really cares about their kids.”
Councilman and former Los Altos School District Board member David Casas began his community involvement several years ago after hearing of a sexual offender in his neighborhood. He also supports the program.
“The Internet can be a tremendous tool, but it can be destructive if (children) are unaware of the consequences,” Casas said. Installing software filters is only part of the battle, he related. “That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t talk to your children.”
What parents can do
In addition to using blocking software and limiting online access, Korges and Anderson offer myriad safety tips to parents. Have an Internet account in the parent’s name with an unshared password. Make sure children exchange e-mail only with known people. Supervise chat areas used by children. Be aware of other computers a child could be using outside the home. Emphasize the importance of keeping personal information private. If parents come across suspicious messages, do not delete them, turn the computer off or attempt to contact the sender. Korges and Anderson urge parents to call the police department (947-2770) immediately.
Bringing message to children
There are plans to take the Internet predator message directly to children. Korges and Anderson are developing a program for this fall that would involve interactive games. For instance, the children would select which door concealed a sexual predator.
Anderson and Korges queried a classroom of 10- to 12-year-olds during a recent presentation. “Everyone in the entire class had been in a chat room or had done instant messaging,” Korges said. “A third of them had Internet access in their own rooms.”
In the wake of the fifth anniversary of the shooting tragedies at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colo., Korges pointed out that Los Altos fits Littleton’s demographic to a “T.” He also noted that one of the killers posted his intended victims on the Internet, underscoring how unaware parents can be about their child’s online activities.
Citing this and examples of children’s gullibility, Korges recommended against allowing children Internet access in their own rooms.
Korges and Anderson have scheduled their next public presentation 7:30 p.m., May 25, in the multipurpose room at Hillview Community Center, 97 Hillview Ave., Los Altos.
