Bonners Ferry, ID -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/07/2012 -- Today’s guest on Parent Choices for Struggling Teens, was Detective Rich Wistocki, a Special Investigator and a member of ICAC- Internet Crimes Against Children, who discussed with Lon a topic, both interesting and terrifying for parents on the “online dangers for kids”. Throughout the show, Detective Wistocki vigilantly stated “parents must check and monitor their kid’s online world.” With 80% of kid’s grades 6-12, the number one problem our kids are getting into trouble with is video chatting and Skype usage.

“Kids are so out there and so easy for traffickers. They (traffickers) are using FaceBook and other social Medias, to entice young girls to move out of state and then they are being used as escorts. Kids think they are really safe behind their computers and yet on Craigslist, young boys are being victimized so quickly. I tell them, “Until you can verify them (their name, address and school) they are liars.”

With the use of “file sharing networks” perpetrators take advantage of kids, stalking them through FB and Twitter, whereas these kids become victims of a “sweetheart scam”. ..Girls go on dating sites; offshore (overseas) predators steal their identities, gather credit card numbers and scam thousands of dollars from them and their parents. Other ways predators nowadays are stalking our children is through internet gaming with multi players. The predator will get the kids to go to Instant Messaging or phone texting to find out more about them, using their online gaming connections as an ‘in’ with them. And the list goes on and on including sexting: teen boys becoming collectors of these pictures and using intimidation and threats to expose the pictures via email to everyone; hijacking: where a teen/child uses their friends computer to check their social networks, and then having their password stolen by “said” friends and having their accounts taken over- causing slander, bullying, deleting or adding inappropriate pictures to the site and then locking the original owner out and ruining their reputations.

Once again, Detective Rich stressed- “Parent’s, you are responsible for your children-both in their physical life and in their online life. Parents have to be parents and not friends with their kids. There is no such thing as privacy with your kids. You need to start monitoring with your kids at a young age 8-9, as soon as you give your child the ability to text or explore online and let them know “I monitor your online world because I love you and I am responsible for you.” When you walk into their room and they X out of their computers- you know there is something there they don’t want you to see. This is the time to lay down the law.”

Detective Wistocki conducts internet safety courses across the country for parents and faculty, through churches and schools, with the belief that ‘education is key’. “Parents are hungry for this information and shared with Lon that there is a growing effort through legislations, special tasks forces and police within the communities to crack down on the victimization of our children. I show them how to navigate FaceBook and give them tools to use to monitor their kids.”

On his website, Detective Wistocki has listed several software options that parents can get to monitor their child’s phone and online usage and also recommends the movie ‘Trust’ to see how internet predators go out and get children.

To listen to the full interview go to: Protecting Kids From Online Predators on LATalkRadio. Also available in Podcast

Lon Woodbury is the owner/founder of Woodbury Reports Inc. and http://www.strugglingteens.com. He has worked with families and struggling teens since 1984 and is the host of Parent Choices for Struggling Teens on LATalkRadio Mondays at 12:00pm, Pacific Time, Channel One.

Detective Rich Wistocki is the president of Be Sure Consulting Corporation and currently on the High Technology Crimes Unit in IL, a Special Investigator with the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office, a Special Response Team Sniper and a member of: the IL Tactical Officers Association (ITOA), the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force (ICAC), The High Tech Criminal Investigators Association (HTCIA) and (CECTF).

This segment of Parent Choices for Struggling Teens was sponsored by Spring Ridge Academy, http://www.springridgeacademy.com , a therapeutic boarding school for girls, ages 13-17, located in Arizona.

Woodbury Reports was founded in November 1989, by Lon Woodbury, MA, IECA, CEP, as an Independent Educational Consulting firm to help parents of teens making poor decisions select a private, parent choice program that would help return the family to normalcy. Through interviews with parents, communication with professionals who know your child well, and then thoroughly researching viable options, we can help parents make the right choices that will help your child get back on the right path. For more information about Woodbury Reports Inc., call 208-267-5550, or email to lon@woodbury.com, or visit the web site http://www.strugglingteens.com.