A recent article responding to an alleged rape of a 13-year-old boy in Salisbury, MA highlights the threats of the Internet and the difference in technological knowledge between children and their parents.  The investigation that led to the child rape charges started because the victim's mother fortunately checked her son's email account where she found "disturbing" messages to her child from his alleged rapist.  The article stresses that parents need to be educated about the Internet and how to protect their children from its dangers.

According to Detective Mark Thomas:

"Children are victims because they don't know what they're getting themselves into when they respond to Internet predators.  Parents who say: 'No, my child would never do that,' are in denial."

Here are some basic rules parents should follow:

1) Know where your children are accessing the Internet -- at home, in school, at their friend's homes, on their cell phones, etc.

2) Keep your child's home computer in a shared space section of your home where you can see what's going on, as opposed to allowing a computer in your child's bedroom.  "Letting children have computers in their bedrooms is like taking your children to the park at midnight and leaving them there alone," says Sgt. Steven Del Negro, commander of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force for Massachusetts.

3) Parents need to set up all computers and be the administrators so they can control access to it. If children are the administrators, they can limit parents' access to it and hide things.

4) Parents should know how children are getting the Internet in addition to all of their children's e-mail, chat room and social networking (MySpace, Facebook, etc.)  accounts and passwords so they can regularly check on their children's Internet activities. Del Negro suggests that parents "set up their own MySpace and Facebook pages, and ask their children to 'friend' them. That way they can check to see what's being posted on their children's pages."