How safe is our child on the internet? - some stats

I started on an engagement on creating a platform for child safety on the internet. as a prt of the research,i  did collect a few stats , that i wish to share.  i would delve into the matter more at a later point of time.

Articles about online dangers frequently cite statistics from a 2005 University of New Hampshire study that 13% of youth were sexually solicited by online predators. (This statistic is sometimes referenced as coming from the National Center on Missing and Exploited Children, which funded and published the study).

As the authors of the research upon which these numbers are based, we believe these statistics often have been misunderstood. The following points are important caveats that those using or quoting this statistic need to understand in order to avoid further confusion.

1) These solicitations did not necessarily come from “online predators”. They were all unwanted online requests to youth to talk about sex, answer personal questions about sex or do something sexual. But many could have been from other youth. In most cases, youth did not actually know the ages of solicitors.  When they believed they knew, they said about half were other youth. 

2) These solicitations were not necessarily devious or intended to lure.  Most were limited to brief online comments or questions in chatrooms or instant messages. Many were simply rude, vulgar comments like, “What’s your bra size?”.

3) Most recipients did not view the solicitations as serious or threatening. Two-thirds were not frightened or upset by what happened.

4) Almost all youth handled unwanted solicitations easily and effectively. Most reacted by blocking or ignoring solicitors, leaving sites, or telling solicitors to stop.

5) Extremely few youth (only 2) were actually sexually victimized by someone they met online. This number was too small to be the basis of a reliable estimate of how many youth in the population get sexually victimized from online meetings.

Nonetheless, we were able to make estimates in the study of some of the more serious types of sexual solicitations. We prefer citing the statistics about these as more representative of threatening or dangerous situations that youth encounter online.

• 1 in 25 youth (about 4%) got "aggressive" sexual solicitations that included attempts to contact the youth offline. These are the episodes most likely to result in actual victimizations. (About one-quarter of these aggressive solicitations came from people the youth knew in person, mostly other youth.)
• 1 in 25 youth (about 4%) were solicited to take sexual pictures of themselves. In many jurisdictions, these constitute criminal requests to produce child pornography.
• 1 in 25 youth (about 4%) said they were upset or distressed as a result of an online solicitation. Whether or not the solicitors were online predators, these are the youth most immediately harmed by the solicitations themselves.

Reports and papers about this study, information about other research we have done, and contact information for the authors are available at our websitewww.unh.edu/ccrc. Please feel free to contact us if you have questions about any of our research.

Research funded by the U.S. Department of Justice, OJJDP, and the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Program support provided by the Verizon Foundation.

 Source : http://www.unh.edu/ccrc/internet-crimes/factsheet_1in7.html

·         One in five U.S. teenagers who regularly log on to the Internet say they have received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the Web.  Solicitations were defined as requests to engage in sexual activities or sexual talk, or to give personal sexual information.
    - Crimes Against Children Research Center

·         25% of children have been exposed to unwanted pornographic material online.
    - Crimes Against Children Research Center

·         Only 1/3 of households with Internet access are actively protecting their children with filtering or blocking software.
    - Center for Missing and Exploited Children

·         75% of children are willing to share personal information online about themselves and their family in exchange for goods and services.
    - eMarketer

·         Only approximately 25% of children who encountered a sexual approach or solicitation told a parent or adult.
    - Crimes Against Children Research Center

·         One in 33 youth received an aggressive sexual solicitation in the past year.  This means a predator asked a young person to meet somewhere, called a young person on the phone, and/or sent the young person correspondence, money, or gifts through the U.S. Postal Service.
    - Your Internet Safety Survey

·         77% of the targets for online predators were age 14 or older.  Another 22% were users ages 10 to 13.
    - Crimes Against Children Research Center

Source: http://www.sentrypc.com/home/statistics.htm

Other Statistics , if we need  to know

·         Only 18% of youth use chat rooms, however, the majority of Internet-initiated sex crimes against children are initiated in chat rooms. (Journal of Adolescent Health 47, 2010)

·         As of December 2012, NCMEC's child victim identification program has reviewed and analyzed more than 80 million child pornography images since it was created in 2002.(National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 2012)

·         In 82% of online sex crimes against minors, the offender used the victim's social networking site to gain information about the victim's likes and dislikes. (Journal of Adolescent Heatlh 47, 2010)

·         65% of online sex offendors used the victim's social networking site to gain home and school information about the victim (Journal of Adolescent Heatlh 47, 2010)

·         Only 1 in 3 people will report secual crimes to a trusted adult (International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children)

·         At least 1.8 million children are used in commercial sex, many sold into sexual slavert by poor families and others abducted and trafficked into brothels (International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children)

·         The UN reports that 79% of human trafficking is sexual exploitation (International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children, 2009)

·         Dr. Michael Seto estimated that 3% of the male population is aroused by pedophilic stimuli (International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children)

·         At least 200 million girls and 100 million boys will be sexually victimized before they reach adulthood(International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children)

·         At least 8 million children go missing each year(International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children)

·         26% of online sex offendors used the victim's social networking site to gain information about the victim's whereabouts at a specific time. (Journal of Adolescent Health 47, 2010)

·         There are over 747,408 registered sex offenders in the United States, and over 100,000 are lost in the system(National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, 2012) 

·         Research indicates that 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys will be sexually abused before adulthood;[2] sadly, 30-40% of these victims are abused by a family member and 50% are abused by someone outside the family whom they know and trust. [3] Although the majority of this child sex abuse does not occur online, in the Internet age, offline sex abuse if fueled by pedophiles’ unprecedented access to child pornography online.

·         The "4 every girl campaign" found that underage female characters on primetime television are more likely to be presented in sexual scenes than adult women (Parent's Television Council, 2013)

·         Pornography and stripping were two forms of exploitation most likely to be written into scripts as punchy lines(Parent's Television Council, 2013)

·         One in seven kids received a sexual solicitation online.[4]

·         Over half (56%) of kids sexually solicited online were asked to send a picture; 27% of the pictures were sexually-oriented in nature.[5]

·          44% of sexual solicitors were under the age of 18.[6]

·         Four percent of all youth Internet users received aggressive sexual solicitations, which threatened to spill over into “real life”.  These solicitors asked to meet the youth in person, called them on the telephone or sent offline mail, money or gifts.  Also, four percent of youth had distressing sexual solicitations that left them feeling upset of extremely afraid.[7]

·         Of aggressive sexual solicitations of youth (when the solicitor attempted to establish an offline contact via in-person meeting or phone call), 73% of youth met the solicitor online.[8]

·         Sexual solicitations of youth occur:[9]

o   Chatrooms (37%)

o   Instant Messaging (40%)

o   Other, like gaming devices (21%)

·          The more risky behaviors kids engage in online, the more likely they will receive an online sexual solicitation.  These risky behaviors include[10]:

o   Posting personal information (50%)

o   Interacting with online strangers (45%)

o   Placing strangers on buddy lists (35%)

o   Sending personal information to strangers (26%)

o   Visiting X-rated sites (13%)

o   Talking about sex with strangers (5%)

·         80% of online offenders against youth were eventually explicit with youth about their intentions, and only 5% concealed the fact that they were adults from their victims.[11

·         The majority of victims of Internet-initiated sex crimes were between 13 to 15 years old; 75% were girls and 25% were boys.[12]

·         14 percent of students in 10th-12th grade have accepted an invitation to meet an online stranger in-person and 14 percent of students, who are usually the same individuals, have invited an online stranger to meet them in-person.[13]

·         14 percent 7th-9th grade students reported that they had communicated with someone online about sexual things; 11 percent of students reported that they had been asked to talk about sexual things online; 8 percent have been exposed to nude pictures and 7 percent were also asked for nude pictures of themselves online. [14]

·         59 percent of 7th-9th grade victims said their perpetrators were a friend they know in-person; 36 percent said it was someone else they know; 21 percent said the cyber offender was a classmate; 19 percent indicated the abuser was an online friend; and 16 percent said it was an online stranger.[15]

·         Nine percent of children in 7th-9th grade have accepted an online invitation to meet someone in-person and 10 percent have asked someone online to meet them in-person.[16]

·         13 percent of 2nd-3rd grade students report that they used the Internet to talk to people they do not know, 11 percent report having been asked to describe private things about their body and 10 percent have been exposed to private things about someone else's body. [17] 

Source: http://www.internetsafety101.org/Predatorstatistics.htm

Few lessons from the Mumbai blasts

The recent blasts at Mumbai saddened me to a great extent. We, as a country, have been facing too many terror threats and have continued to endure it with great restraint.

At one time, I was appalled and angry at the current state of affairs. As days went by, I thought, “Do we deserve this?” ...and I was surprised by my own answer to this question. It appears... yes.

If we fail to learn from our mistakes, we will continue to fall like the leaves of a diseased tree.

We don’t have to point fingers at the government for its failure. The questions to be asked would be, “What have we done? Have we not learnt any lessons?”

I still remember 9/11 and the changes it brought to the world. The security DNA of entire airline industry was restructured. The immigration laws were redefined.

But, what did we do after the attacks on India?... Nothing? Yes, nothing. Did we learn anything? I think we learnt... nothing!

Let us relook the blasts to see what we can gather from them.

Almost all of them were due to cars, bikes and cycles that were parked in a crowded area. The lesson to be learnt here is no rocket science.

Apparently, we are living in a virtual time bomb. In Bangalore alone, consider Commercial Street, Brigade Road, or Jayanagar shopping complex. Anybody can park a car on the street and... BOOM!!!

When I saw the tragic visuals of Zaveri bazaar blast, I realised that we are sitting ducks for these guys. Everything is set ready for them to execute their plan. I can bet my one year’s salary... this place can be hit again (God forbid!) if the people of that locality do not enforce some simple laws to protect their lives.

We could take simple steps to mitigate, if not fully prevent, a repeat... that is, if we are not bound by our renown “Mumbai spirit” to ignore this.

For starters, we could push for designated parking lots. No vehicle should be allowed to be parked on busy streets. Shop vendors could grumble about business loss. But is human life more expendable than money? Secondly, in all probability, anyone parking in these busy areas would be walking quite a distance to visit the shop of his choice. After all, how often does one get a parking slot right in front of the shop of choice?!

Next, we need to add our names to our money. If all shops start accepting plastic money, there would be an identification of sorts of each customer. This should not be too difficult to achieve! The setting up might be a bit of an inconvenience, but not a pain... at least not when it is our existence that is at stake.

Third, keep your area clean. Garbage is the most vulnerable place- simply because it is easily camouflaged. If our residential and commercial areas are clean, anything that is out of place would stand out. It’d be easy to say that the government needs to manage our security. But consider the scenario that’s fall out of their failure- you might not be alive a moment longer, to see your children, spouse or parents. Does it really matter who failed, when you are no longer around or are crippled for life? So keep a vigil- manage the garbage to stay out of a bigger mess.

Fourth, demand its worth for your vote and tax. If each Mumbaikar questions the politicians and lawmakers, wouldn’t these people in power be wary of questions about Kasab and Dawood? This would put pressure on the political parties. Add a premium to your vote. Publish your demands and hold your vote hostage until the demands are met. Remind them that it was YOUR choice to put them in the position of power, to be lawmakers, not law-breakers. Words like kingpin, power, reign, etc should be avoided. In a democracy, there are just town planners, lawmakers and policymakers (I hope the media is listening.)

Stop returning to work the day after a bombing like nothing happened. Then, the MNCs and lawmakers will be compelled to take the public seriously. Else, we will just have to live with the laughable “Mumbai or Bangalore spirit". There was no case against Osama. Is kasab special?

What are we trying to prove?- that we are more humane?... or spineless?

Lastly and most importantly, ROOT OUT CORRUPTION. Think about it- as I type this or as you read it, there’s probably a terrorist, who is bribing some guy in our country, to create a false identity for himself. And it is the black money that goes into the “business” of terrorism.

If we stop paying the money and report corruption, the scope is lessened. Not an easy task; but worth putting the effort. May be one generation will suffer. All that matters is that we need to show the willingness to change and take the first step.

Want to get famous in the cricket world?

Jan 07 2007: somewhere in Australia

One Aussie having his Fosters (For beer) in the evening. Suddenly somebody comes and taps him at the back.

“Eh?”

“Hey mate, want to get rich and famous?”

“Want to act funny?”

“No I am serious”

“You alquede…whatever it is called?”

“No, I am not them, all you need to do is write in a newspaper or blog and I will pay you 10000 $”

“Cool, what I need to do?”

“You know what happened in cricket right? The Aussie team misbehaved, you an Aussie… Write against the cricket team”

“What’s cricket”

“You are not as Aussie?”

“Well, not, I am American, settled here, but for the 10000$ I am Aussie”

“Hmm, I love your attitude, but there is a problem… what can you write against, when do not know cricket”

“Oh, you mean cricket, I know cricket, its baseball, it’s easy, or like rugby, whatever, I will write, where is the money”

“Okay, right against Ricky Ponting”

“Now, you are asking much, who is Ricky Ponting?”

“Okay, whom did you hate the most in your life?”

“That B ^$^^&D Bradman… don’t remind me of him…”

“Don Bradman!!!???!!!”

“No, Rod Bradman, I used to punch him bad at Missouri”

“Okay, think of him and write”

“That will be easy”

“And use the word ‘baggy green’ that will do”

“Anything for you pal, sorry mate!!!”

After Half an hour,

“Is this good???”

“Fantastic, now replace ‘Rob Bradman’ with ‘Ricky Ponting’ and that will do”

“I Heard, that some Indian used a racist slur against somebody called Symonds, called him a monkey???”

“Oh, no... it’s not monkey… it’s maki… maki... (laughs), the Aussies are short of hearing”

“What does that mean?”

“B ^$^^&D”

“What???”

“I Mean, Maki means B ^$^^&D”

“Well mate (Gotto get used to it), It’s done”

“Here is the 10000$ and from tomorrow you are Nike Reebok, the reputed cricket writer in the world, who spoke against the mighty Aussies”

“Anything for money and fame!!!”

Next Day on the new age "Reputed Cricket writer accuses Australian team of blasphemy"

Who is at fault for the traffic problems in Bangalore?

I keep hearing of the bad traffic on the streets of Bangalore; my friends , family,almost everybody.
It is a nice chai time talk. " The government is lousy ... they are not doing any thing for the traffic" , they cannot put roads, potholes , the traffic police are corrupt .. they only know to take bribes".
Nice talk, spoken by the suave, affluent intellectuals of India (all are mostly software engineers... I too am one among the breed).
We know it all , what is the government??? we; the guys for whom the government needs to work for .. after all its my tax man... This are the first thought that occurs in almost every person who drives to E- city.
But it is the same folks who are fully responsible for the bad roads and traffic. Not the government.
I think the government has done more than enough. The entire government of Karnataka cannot concentrate only on the people who travel on Hosur road.
give it a break. There are more issues to handle.
Look at the people who use these roads. almost all bikes that go to E-City love to dirt track on the foot paths built for the pedestrians. Yes , it is the governments fault. Such bikes should be taken over by the police; not to be returned back. This information should be shared with the respective companies and each employee who breaks the laws more than 3-5 times should be removed from his job. It may sound draconian; i agree but personally, when ever i see a bike on the foot path ; I pity the person. He reminds me of the bad culture that his parents have imparted on him that the person lacks basic courtesy.
Almost fifty percent of the driver jump the signal. this creates most of the traffic jams. and one of the most favorite hobbies of the drivers and riders of Bangalore; move suddenly from right to left or vice-versa just at the traffic signal; blocking the entire traffic behind them.
The other most common hobby; chatting while driving; and none of them have the basic courtesy to move to the side and stop .
And all this crimes (Each of it is a crime- legally) is done by the smartly dressed, heavily paid, well (supposedly.. I think the English should change the meaning of this word) educated young new hope of India.
They go abroad to represent their company sometimes.
I think instead of squarely blaming the government; we should correct our selves and our friends who commit these crimes.