The Internet provides a unique experience for children to learn and to explore; in part, because a young person is able to proceed at their own rate. The web facilitates learning for children with ADD, and other learning problems; the stress from performance expectations of teachers and classmates is not as evident and the environment can be modified to provide less distractions. Gifted children can learn at an accelerated pace.

But parents and educators realize that this gift of easier access to information is a double-edged sword because the web makes it easier for predators to distribute their wares and to entice the innocent onto their sites.

Porn sites are getting more devious in their attempt to draw visitors. They literally recruit new visitors using various methods. One method is to put misleading words in the subject line of e-mail. Some while ago, I was waiting a new password for one of my host sites. Now for many of us who frequent the web requesting a password or a replacement password is a fairly common occurence. Many sites require that you obtain a password to post or to use their services (free e-mail services, web-hosting services, shopping on line, etc.). So when you see as subject, "new password", you understandably may think of it as legitimate.

Oh yeah? Well, guess again. In this instance, the sender was one of the many porn sites trying to entice visitors. And how do they get your address? It's fairly easy. If you post your e-mail address anywhere on the net, in your own website, usenet boards, conferences, discussion boards, etc., you may receive such messages.

Sure, you can restrict yourself from posting on the net but that's not a very adequate solution as it keeps you from valuable information, experiences and personal interchanges. The better solution is to protect your children with various software and other means, some of which are listed below.

Most e-mail providers have an abuse service where you can complain about these spammers/porn messages. Unfortunately, since 99% of the addresses are fake, no action can be taken. Some providers, also provide a "block sender" technique. But to block the sender you must have an actual e-mail addresses which, again, is usually non-existent and, the next time the spammer sends out a message, they will use a different, fake e-mail address. Yes, you can block subjects that have such words as "adult videos" but that only works for the so-called "honest" porn sites since many others utilize tricks when it comes to the subject field (as noted above).

Perhaps you feel you don't have to worry about the e-mail aspect as your child does not have access to e-mail. But what about search engines? All children/students use them. The idea behind search engines is that when you request information on certain keywords, you will receive information on those keywords. But porn sites illegally seed words into their pages and sometimes in their META tags; words that have absolutely nothing to do with the contents of their site. The intent is to capture unsuspecting people who they hope will then visit their site. They seed literally hundreds of irrelevant words - words that search engine robots capture and thus, when your child puts in one of these words, and it could be anything (animal, picture, telephone, candy, princess, lord) they may pull up that oh-too-descriptive porn site. Given the curiosity of children, they may very well visit. One solution is to use search engines specifically for younger children such as Yahooligans

So, what else can you do? At Smart Parent you will find blocking/filtering software that you can install on your computer. It includes ratings on such software by Consumer Affairs. Also check out Get Net Wise

It is important to give children the opportunity to explore the web but we need to offer reasonable protection while they explore. If you are aware of incidents of exploitation of children, call your local law enforcement agency or report on-line National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Toll free number for reporting missing or exploited of children: 1.800.THE.LOST (1.800.843.5678). If a child is in immediate risk or danger please call your local police.

You can report incidents occuring in the City of West Palm Beach through our TIPS line: 561.822.1701 or 561.822.1900 (non-emergency complaint which is manned on a 24/7 basis). You can also report incidents through our Opinon Page but this is manned on an intermittent basis not a 24/7 basis and should be used as the last resort.