NW3C GUIDELINES FOR PROTECTING MINOR CHILDREN ON THE INTERNET VIOLATED BY MAJORITY OF CHILDREN AND TEENS

Recent research conducted by KnightsBridge Castle indicates that the majority of children and teens using the internet and social networking sites such as MySpace violate at least one of the 6 basic child safety guidelines provided by the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C).

We quote the NW3C child and teen safety guidelines:

Examples of information a child should not give out in their online profile include:
-- Real Name
-- Addresses
-- Any phone numbers
-- Name and location of school
-- Name or location of a teen’s place of work
-- Pictures of himself or herself.

KnightsBirdge Castle research indicates that social networking sites have proven so attractive to children, and that peer pressure to participate is so strong, that the majority of children interviewed violate one or more of the guidelines given above. During the interviews most children knew of the dangers of revealing this information, however, their resistance to providing detailed information often broke down with usage, time, and poor examples set by peers. Some children and teens that held to the guidelines often had their security compromised by friends who often posted this information on their own web pages.