The Awareness Advisor

It seems that the best parental control software isn't receiving the press it deserves, as parents and lawmakers don't give online predators and the stalking of kids online the attention that these issues require.

At newstimeslive.com, Danbury, Connecticut is touted as the first community in their state to potentially "bar convicted sex offenders from city-run parks and recreation areas." And while this measure is a good one that could prove useful in protecting kids, what we really need to do is focus on where the sexual predators are congregating right now.

And that would the Internet.

Today, a kid who logs-on has a 1 in 4 chance of being approached with unwanted sexual attention, and 1 in 53 will be aggressively pursued by an online predator seeking to meet the child face to face. With millions of kids using the Internet every day, the statistics are staggering.

And as council member Lynn Taborsak reminds us, these kinds of ordinances do nothing to protect children "at the mall or online."

This is where parents must step in. The best parental control software systems will offer parents a full picture of their child's Internet use. This should include email recording, chat recording, website blocking and website recording.

Awareness Tech's WebWatcher offers all of this, and more. With tools like WebWatcher, lawmakers can protect kids outdoors, and parents can keep them safe in the home.

Chat recording software has sky-rocketed in popularity as parents struggle to protect their kids from online predators. At the Paynesville Press, Sergeant Chris Dobratz of the Hutchinson Police Department and Minnesota Internet Crimes Against Children task force relays the startling statistic that about 70% of worldwide Internet use is for pornography.

Disturbing indeed, but how do chat rooms play a part in such a problem? As Dobratz explains, it's in these kinds of "digital communities," with personal web pages, instant messages, text messages and more, that predators can pose as "females, prospective boyfriends, teenagers, or trusted confidants."

In other words, this is how online predators are stalking kids, and they often use pornography as one of their tools to desensitize those kids to sexually inappropriate or explicit behaviors.

And in many cases, it's working.

Kids are more likely to trust someone they think is their own age and/or gender, and so they often reveal personal information to online predators that they wouldn't reveal if they know who they were really talking to.

This is why good chat recording software is essential to any parental control software system. Awareness Tech's WebWatcher includes chat recording as a standard part of their system, alongside other important tools like website blocking and email recording.

Today, 1 in 4 kids will deal with unwanted exposure to sexual solicitation online, and more and more it's in chat rooms where these things happen. In this kind of fast-paced, technologically advanced "digital community," parents need every bit of help they can get to keep their kids 100% safe.

At the heralddemocrat.com, journalist Mary Jane Farmer does an excellent job of examining why it is that some parents fail to keep Internet stalkers away from their kids.

Many parents feel that parental control software is too invasive, and their child can be trusted to avoid Internet stalkers. But as the article says, just as parents have a responsibility to keep their kids "housed, fed, and protected," they also have the responsibility to keep their kids safe from those who would do them harm, even when the child disagrees.

And for those who think that they can trust their child to avoid Internet stalkers, many, many online predators masquerade as someone in the child's age group in order to get the kind of information that allows them to locate their new victim. These days, in less than an hour an Internet stalker can find out where your child lives, where they go to school, and even their name or nickname.

This is why parental control software is such a useful tool for today's busy parents. Awareness Tech's WebWatcher, one of the most highly rated of parental control software systems, allows parents chat recording, email recording, website blocking, and more. It also has remote viewing capabilities, so busy parents can check on their child's Internet use from work.

Kids just don't have the decision-making skills that adults have, and with WebWatcher parents can help their kids to avoid those dangerous individuals who would prey upon their inexperience.

At orlandosentinel.com, the dangers of online predators and child abuse are linked to high-tech Christmas gifts.

Gifts like laptops and webcams can be especially dangerous, since anything with Internet access can lead online predators to kids, and webcams are an often-used tool to perpetrate child abuse through the transmission of pornographic materials.

So, what should parents do when their children want such technology as a christmas gift?

Savvy parents will make sure that that laptop or family computer is outfitted with good parental control software. Awareness Tech's WebWatcher is a highly rated parental control software system that allows parents to block websites, but also allows for website recording, chat recording, email recording, and more.

Now Santa can make his list, and check it twice, while parents check in on their child's Internet use and keep online predators out of the home.

Www.law.com asks, "what are the risks for employers in instances where employees use company computers to access...illegal activities?" Due to new shifts and changes in the legal landscape, workplace Internet use has become more than just an issue of employee productivity, it has become an issue of liability.

Certainly the influence of the Internet on employee productivity would seem to be enough to trouble employers and managers. Inappropriate workplace Internet use is so widespread on the job that it costs the average employer about $6,000 per year, per employee.

But when you add liability to the mix, you can be losing millions of dollars due to negligence. There's sexual harassment to consider, especially when employees access pornographic materials from company owned computers, and now, a recent ruling that extends company liability to third parties.

In New Jersey, a woman is suing her ex-husband's company because he had posted pornographic photos of her 10-year-old daughter from a company computer. Because the company didn't do enough to stop it, they are vulnerable to a negligence lawsuit with potentially devastating ramifications.

This is one more reason why smart employers and managers rely on computer monitoring software. Computer monitoring software, combined with designated "free times" for employee Internet use, have been found to boost employee productivity without lowering morale.

Awareness Tech's WebWatcher is one of the most highly rated computer monitoring software systems, and allows everything from website blocking to website recording, including email recording and chat recording. Best of all, it can be monitored in real time from a remote location, meaning that the boss doesn't have to actually stand over anyone's shoulder to enforce and maintain integrity and productivity on the job.

A registered sex offender and Internet predator was released from police custody this week in Ohio, leaving him free to attack another teenage girl.

At toledoblade.com, the details of the case prove disturbing in the least. The man in question had already served time for using the Internet to lure what he thought was a 14-year-old girl into having sex with him. He is 49 years old.

Now the registered sex offender and known Internet predator has been accused of trying to kidnap a 12-year-old girl from the bus stop. The girl remembered his license plate number, and picked him out of a lineup, and yet somehow a jury couldn't see fit to put this man away before he could strike again. His trial ended in a mistrial, and now he'll be free to stalk more little girls at bus stops or in chat rooms.

This kind of situation reflects the inability of law to keep up with the epidemic of child exploitation and abuse that has arisen in recent years. The fact that this man has been allowed to go free is mind boggling.

Until the law can keep up with these criminals, and protect kids and even adults from sex offenders and Internet predators, parents need to keep relying on parental control software.

Awareness Tech's WebWatcher is one of the most highly rated of all parental control software systems. With WebWatcher parents can use website blocking, but can also rely on website recording, chat recording, and email recording to be aware of who their child is talking to and what's going on.

A predator like this will strike again, but at least with parental control software parents and authorities are a little closer to putting him away for good.

Many of us remember McGruff the Crime Dog in his brown overcoat, urging kids to take a "bite out of crime." Now he's back, working to teach kids about cybercrime and Internet predators and hopefully to show parents a thing or two about keeping their kids safe.

At ny1.com, the new and more modern version of McGruff is described as a tool to hopefully make kids aware of the dangers of the Internet. According to Ann Harkins of the National Crime Prevention Council, 77% of kids "are contacted in some manner" by an Internet predator by the age of 14. This means that if you have a teenager, and that teenager uses the Internet, they've already met at least one pedophile.

Hopefully the crime dog will teach kids about cybercrime, but what about parents? There are too many parents out there who either don't understand the danger posed to their kids, or don't know how to do anything about it.

One option that has proven very effective is WebWatcher. Awareness Tech's WebWatcher is a parental control software system, allowing parents to know who their child is talking to and what they are seeing or hearing from their "Internet friends."

Webwatcher includes options for website blocking, email recording, chat recording, and more. And, unlike other parental control software systems, WebWatcher can be checked from a remote computer, giving working moms and dads the ability to protect their kids too.

As one father put it, when he found out his daughter had lied about her age and was accessing chat rooms, "there are a lot of perverts out there." With WebWatcher parents can keep those Internet predators "out there," and away from their homes and children.

Sexual predators are the topic of discussion in a chilling bit by the Chattanoogan.com.

According to an official of the Children's Advocacy Center, 1 in 4 children today are sexually abused by the age of 18.

And while such a troubling statistic seems impossible to us on the surface, the truth is that today kids are at risk for sexual predators everywhere they go.

And especially on the Internet.

According to Internet Safety experts, 1 in 5 kids who logs online will be approached by a sexual predator. With millions of children using the Internet today, the odds that a sexual predator will approach your child are staggering. The epidemic in Internet stalkers has reached such a point that law enforcement agencies are unable to keep up.

And while lawmakers have responded to the public outcry regarding sexual predators, the truth is that it's intervention in the home that makes the biggest impact.

Parental control software is one way that parents, even working parents, can monitor their child's Internet use. Awareness Tech's WebWatcher, highly rated among all parental control software systems, allows parents email recording, chat recording, website blocking, and more.

WebWatcher gives parents a full picture of their child's Internet activities, and allows busy moms and dads to watch for sexual predators, even when they can't always be standing guard in person.

According to Hernando Today, lawmakers are "the sex offender's worst enemy."

But here at Awareness Tech we know that that's not entirely the case; the real worst enemy for sex offenders are savvy parents.

Sex offenders and online predators are simply too hard to catch; the anonymity of the Internet, combined with their single-minded purpose in stalking and abusing children, makes them the most dangerous threat that your child will encounter in their lifetime.

And while offering stricter punishment for sex offenders certainly seems fair, the inherent problem in such a plan is that the crimes must be committed in order for the punishment to occur. Wouldn't it make more sense, especially from the standpoint of a worried parent, to prevent the crime from ever happening in the first place?

With parental control software, parents can stand between online predators and their would-be victims.

Chat rooms, social networking sites, and online video games are attracting millions of kids and are the online predator's favorite hunting ground. But, with parental control software like Awareness Tech's WebWatcher, parents can be aware of who their kid is talking to and what's being said.

This is because WebWatcher allows for chat recording, website recording, website blocking, email recording, and more. It’s also invisible while running, and easy to install.

It's very good to see lawmakers punishing online predators and sex offenders for abusing children, but it's in every child's best interest that parents prevent these horrible crimes from happening at all.

At NJ.com parents are advised to "watch out for scum on the Internet," particularly online predators and Internet stalkers.

Unfortunately, this is much easier said than done.

The example given in the article is no exception: "Danny," the seemingly all American guy looking for love at Myspace is actually a level-3 sex offender and Internet stalker, one of those "most dangerous and likely to re-offend."

And, if Myspace, one of the largest social networking sites in the world, can't figure out who this guy really is, how can parents be expected to know who is an online predator, and who’s just another kid from school?

The key is to be aware not just of who your child is talking to, but what's being said. Online predators and Internet stalkers will want to know information about your child that shouldn't be available, such as names, ages, and addresses. Predators will also use sexual language with children, and present them with sexual materials.

Parental control software can help parents deal with such a complex situation. Parental control software, like Awareness Tech's WebWatcher, gives parents the ability to implement website blocking, website recording, email recording, chat recording, and more. WebWatcher is also invisible while running, so neither kids nor Internet stalkers will know they’re being recorded.

Modbee.com details the police raid that put 135 sexual predators behind bars. Over 80 law enforcement agencies in 34 counties teamed up to search 508 predators, resulting in 135 arrests for everything from possession of child pornography to failure to register.

But U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott doesn't want to rest on his laurels, and neither does he want parents to assume a false sense of security.

Why? Because as Scott says, the police could never hunt and catch all of the online predators who use the Internet to prey on children. Apparently, tracking the predators we already know about is much easier than finding the ones who have escaped the police so far.

This is why parents can "do their part" by relying on parental control software. Parental control software, like WebWatcher by Awareness Tech, allows parents to know who is contacting their child, and what is being said, even when mom and dad are busy at work. This is because WebWatcher is designed to allow access from a remote location, so working parents can enjoy the security of knowing that when their child logs-on at home, they can still see what's going on.

WebWatcher also allows for website blocking, email recording, chat recording, and more.

There are 135 fewer sexual predators out there right now, but who knows how many online predators are waiting for your child to go online without parental supervision?

AT ajc.com, Internet safety expert Parry Aftab provides parents with tips to keep their kids safe from online predators and Internet stalkers.

And #1 on the list? Aftab makes parents repeat the following mantra: "I am the parent."

Why is this so important? It seems, that in today's world parents are so busy being their kid's friend, that they forget or feel bad about being the disciplinarian.

But the truth is, that your kid likely has friends already (if not, there may be some other issues that need to be addressed). What kids need at this age, the age where they are most vulnerable to online predators, is someone who talks to them about what is and isn't acceptable online, and who watches over them to protect them from the dangers of the Internet.

This is why parental control software is such a great tool for parents today. Being the "pos," or instant message slang for "parent over shoulder" can be a difficult job. Your kids resent the intrusion even while they need it to keep them safe. But, with good parental control software, like Awareness Tech's WebWatcher, you don't need to actually stand there to know what's going on when your kid logs-on.

WebWatcher includes website blocking features, website recording, email recording, chat recording, and more. And, it's easy to install, easy to use, and invisible while running, so parents can choose for themselves whether or not to let their child know that they are being protected from Internet stalkers and pedophiles.

Many moms and dads feel uncomfortable monitoring their child's Internet use, but in light of the epidemic in online predators facing us today, parents need to remember that they are the parent, and WebWatcher can help them with all that that entails.