- Peer to peer file sharing (Children can exchange files like mp3s, movies or pictures to one another).
- IRC has become a platform for making friends (Many lasting friendships have resulted because of IRC).
- Find a new partner/spouse (Quite a number of people have found love or even marriage on IRC).
- Distance learning (Children can use IRC to communicate with their tutor online for tutorial).
- Exchange of opinions and debates and small-group panel discussions.
What we have seen earlier are the applications of IRC. How about the advantages of IRC then? Well, IRC can accompany you while you have difficulty getting to sleep. You can chat late into the night and forget about your insomnia. IRC is a real time communication medium, fast and has many users logged on to chat anytime. So news that have just happened in one part of the world may be transmitted or pasted into IRC to get to users that are on the other end (example: during the 1991 Gulf War, where updates from around the world came across the wire, and most IRC users who were online at the time get to hear these reports). IRC also promote active involvement. If you are a student, IRC provides an opportunity for you to practice your English especially when you are interacting with a native speaker of English.
After seeing the good, let’s see the bad IRC can bring you.
IRC can have a negative influence on you (especially if you are children) if you are not being careful of whom you are chatting with. Children’s safety is compromised when talking to a stranger and thus some risks are raised. The risks that can be resulted are shown below.
- Exposure to Inappropriate Material. Children may be exposed to contents that are sexual or violence in nature. And some may encourage/deceive them to do illegal stuff unknowingly.
- Physical molestation. While online, a child may provide his/her personal information to the potential predator and thus putting themselves to danger. Pedophiles, in some cases, have use e-mail and online forums to gain a child’s trust and arrange a face to face meeting.
- Harassment. Children may receive e-mails that are harassing or demeaning.
What we have just seen are some possible risks that can be resulted from IRC. Let’s talk about some common problems children face while talking in IRC.
First, Cyber-sex, children are often the victims of such sexually explicit conversation. It has been around for as long as the inception of IRC till today. The problem has been escalating instead of dwindling. Cyber-sex is physically harmless when executed but it can mentally scar a child forever. Cyber-sex is often initiated by pedophiles who want some sexual satisfaction from children while on the internet. Children are often trusting by nature. When they trust someone they do not know on IRC, it can give the pedophiles the ability to literally reach into their home and grab them. All it takes is one lie. You see, these child molesters can pretend to be anybody they want. They may even give gifts or a substantial amount of their time to the children to gain their trust and attention.
Next, we look at cyber-crime. Sometimes online predators don’t just go for sexual gratification from children. They do harm to others’ computer for thrill sake. Children may get abused from constant email-bombing by abusers. These abuses get victims’ email in IRC. They may also send viruses or spyware to destroy or to steal critical information such as their parents’ credit card numbers on their victims’ computers.
Next, there is a danger that children will be introduced to illegal dugs, alcohol and smoking by the online predators. Children are curious little beings that will probably try to do things they never done before especially when promised by strangers that they will be enjoyable and fun.
Next, children are often exposed to sexually explicit pictures obtained elsewhere. Sometimes, they are also exposed to pictures that contain demeaning, humiliating and insulting material to them. Even a child needs respect.
Lastly, IRC can be addictive and causes children to lose interest in their studies and thus perform badly in school.
What are the preventive measures that parents can adopt to counter the first two problems mentioned above?
First, parents need to have a constant check on their children over their internet activities. One of the most common measures parents can do is to look over their children’s shoulders to see what they are doing when they are online.
Second, if a child really has to meet the online stranger for some reason, it is very important to “make the first meeting in a public place, and be sure to accompany the child.” (3) (Donna Rice, 1998). When a parent is around, the predator tends to get intimidated and thus will behave decently. Even if the stranger is decent and does not mean harm, it will still be good for parents to be present.
Third, parents should always educate the child not to reveal identifying information such as home address, school name, or telephone number to strangers via IRC. Additional information like e-mail, age, hobbies and financial information should also not be given away.
Fourth, parents can install filtering software on the computer to block or keep out unwanted or unwelcome messages, emails, pictures and attachments from stranger. This filtering software can also block the children from surfing to the offensive or sexually explicit websites. Such software are especially helpful as it helps to keep the children at safe zones when the parents are not around. They act as the parents’ third eye.
A recent survey was done to show how many children from countries with high internet usage are suffering from internet abuse. The results are summarized as follows:
- “One in 5 youth received a sexual approach or solicitation over the Internet in the past year
- One in 4 youth had an unwanted exposure in the past year to pictures of naked people or people having sex.
- One in 17 youth was threatened or harassed in the past year.
- Only a fraction of all episodes was reported to authorities such as the police, an Internet service provider, or a hotline,” (4) (John w. Gillis, 2002).
The IRC can be a useful tool if it is being used correctly. So many times, online predators abuse the IRC which is intended to make our lives convenient. The above survey shows an alarming rate at how children are facing danger whenever they are chatting in IRC. Do also remember that many cases went unreported too. When IRC first began, it had much usefulness. When potential predators see the opportunity for some sexual gratification from children, that’s when the IRC becomes an unpopular place for parents to let their children visit. So from the above report, one thing is for sure - Chat rooms are places where children are exposed to the danger of meeting potential online child abusers. This is not a losing battle parents are fighting. The dangers can be overcome if both the parents and children are co-operative and active in taking part in keeping the IRC community safe. How useful the IRC can be depends on the active involvement of everyone.
End-text Referencing
1) Daniel Stenberg (2002) History of IRC [On-line]
Available: www.daniel.haxx.se/irchistory.html
[2004, 13 september]
2) Dey Alexander (2004) Nattering on the Net [on-line]
Available: www.its.monash.edu.au/web/slideshows/wgchat/slide7-0.html [2004, 14 September]
3) Donna Rice, (1998). Kids online: protecting your children in cyberspace. Vancouver: Safety Project
4) John w. Gillis (2002) Internet Crimes against children [on-line]
Available:www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/bulletins/internet_2_2001/internet_2_01_3.html
[2004, 12 September]
Biblography
-
Debbie Mahoney. (1999) Innocence lost? : protecting your child from the trauma of abuse : the nation's leading resource guide for both on line and off line information. Emeryville: West Coast Media Group
Dey Alexander (2004) Nattering on the Net [on-line]
Available: www.its.monash.edu.au/web/slideshows/wgchat/slide7-
0.html [2004, 14 September]
-
Gralla, Preston. (1999) Online kids : a young surfer's guide to cyberspace. New York: J. Wiley
-
John w. Gillis (2002) Internet Crimes against children [on-line]
Available:
www.ojp.usdoj.gov/ovc/publications/bulletins/internet_2_2001/
internet_2_01_3.html
[2004, 11 september]
-
The European commission (2003) Safer Internet [on-line]
Available: www.saferinternet.org/resources/Chats.asp#three
[2004 11 september]
6) Michael Klein-Katz (2000) Whole family.com [on-line]
Available: http://www.wholefamily.com/aboutyourmarriage/affairs/
q_and_a/chat_addict.html
[2004 5 October]
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