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• • Let's get sexual!
  • Dangerous attention
  • Over-exposed
  • It happens so fast
  • Sexting
  • Luring - social networking sites
  • Luring by texting
  • Be careful who you talk to
  • Permanent pictures
  • Threats
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Real Life Stories

Let's Get Sexual!

An individual who claimed to be 21 years old was contacting numerous 14- and 15-year-old girls through the chat component of an online game. In a 24-hour period, this individual was in contact with at least four different girls. He would flatter the girls using terms of endearment such as "gorgeous" and "love." He immediately began asking for personal information including their "asl" (age, sex, location). This was followed by questions regarding whether they had boyfriends and whether or not they get "hit on" a lot. He started asking for more personal information such as their height, hair and eye colour. The suspect quickly turned the conversations sexual, asking the youth their bra sizes, about any past sexual experiences, asking if they would date him and offering them money in exchange for sex.

What does this mean?

Sexual offenders may target online games that have chat rooms including interactive online games and video games played through console with access to the Internet. They also can use three-dimensional animated characters, referred to as "avatars," to engage youth in online conversations.

What can I do?

• Remind students that the Internet is a public place. Teach them about what is meant by personal information and where on the Internet they may be asked for it.
• Create and post Internet guidelines in the classroom that are discussed regularly.
• Explain to students that pictures should not be sent or posted online without parental permission. Once sent, control over what happens to the pictures is lost.
• Reinforce the idea to students that not everyone is who they say they are online. People can pretend to be older or younger than they actually are.
• Explain to students that they should trust their instincts and block someone who asks questions online that seem ‘weird’ (questions about puberty, sex, etc.).
• Talk to students about friendship: what it is and isn’t.
• Explain that online chatting needs to be adult-supervised.
• Ensure students have a safe adult in their lives that they can talk to.
• Check out our Popular Activities section for more information on technologies being used by children and how to make them safer, and our Manipulative Relationships section to learn more about subtle forms of manipulation and how you can talk to students about these.