Experts discuss how to shield your youngster from internet threats

Roanoke, Virginia – We’re starting to hear more and more accounts of youngsters being sexually exploited.
Within 24 hours, four persons in our community were charged with child sex charges.

“We’re not necessarily going to prosecute our way out of this problem. It’s going to be a lot of education on the front end,” said Captain Stephen Anders with Southern Virginia Internet Crimes Against Children, or ICAC.

He advised parents to teach their children about internet usage constantly and to communicate openly with one another in order to prevent similar scenarios.

“Hey, how’s it going? How are your friends doing? Have your friends tried to show you anything or talk to you about it? If they did, you’re not in trouble,” demonstrated Anders. “We just want to help walk you through it. We want to help shape healthy sexual attitudes, instead of a lot of the negative stuff that is portrayed in pornography and other content online.”

Anders claims that the ICAC received about 22,000 reports of potential child exploitation last year.
In order to help their children overcome the odds should it happen to them, he suggested parents should advise their kids on what to do in such a circumstance.

“It’s the parents or the adults that are kind of weirded out, having those discussions with children. We also talked about it; there are unfortunately some people who take pictures with their clothes off. If someone asks you to do that, you can say no. If they do, come talk to us, you’re not in trouble,” said Anders.

Anders advises parents to have early conversations with their children because children are often exposed to harmful information. This aids in laying the groundwork for them to withstand those influences.