Most of these exposures were the result of opening links or misspelling Web addresses. A quarter were the result of e-mail or instant messages. Part of the challenge, says Finkelhor, is that many kids are more computer savvy than their parents. A strategy that may help parents to find out what their child is seeing on the Internet is to tolerate being the dummy and let the child show them around while they ask a lot of questions. The study recommends that government and law enforcement agencies ask young people to help plan Internet protection strategies.
Young people are the Internet experts.
Another safeguard against offensive online encounters is to install filtering and blocking software, which screens out certain sexually oriented Web sites or language. Despite high levels of parental concern, the study finds only one-third of families actually used any filtering or blocking software, including products made available by Internet service providers. The report urges better understanding of why families bypass these protections. Finkelhor does not want to exaggerate online danger, but he hopes the report elicits a response. It's not just kids and parents who should bear the burden, though.