The threat of child predators is obviously one that parents need to remain vigilant about, especially as predators attempt to make contact in any way possible with their potential victims.
As most parents know, this threat is equally sobering when concerning the online activities of children. It’s disheartening to know that the latest scheme of online child predators to lure their underage pray is the use of none other than kids’ favorite new online game: Fortnite.
If you’re a parent, you’ve heard the name. It’s nearly impossible to avoid hearing about Fortnite, the newest & coolest online game (Fortnite even featured the “floss” dance; need we say more??). Tons of kids either play it, beg their parents to let them play it, or whine about when they need to stop playing it. They love it.
Child predators are why we have to stay vigilant
And child predators are exactly why we can’t have nice things like Fortnite, because they have taken to the chat portion of the game in attempts to groom potential underage victims.
This disturbing trend came to light in the state of New Jersey last week, as state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced the arrests of 24 -TWENTY FOUR, in just one week!- suspects that were caught attempting to lure minors into conversations regarding potential sexual contact. And here they are, courtesy of NJpatch.com:
The suspects were discovered via New Jersey State Police’s Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. (Isn’t an unfortunate reality of our times that there is an entire crime division needed to be devoted to such a problem?)
And according to reporter Paige Gross’ article on NJ.com, the predators were even shadier in their attempts to make contact:
Some of them –a police sergeant included– posed as teenagers, themselves.
Chilling, isn’t it?
The suspects logged into the chat portion of Fortnite and other online games frequented by underage patrons.
They initiated conversations with individuals that they assumed were underage, but were actually Task Force members taking on the guise of teenagers. Once the suspects shifted chat conversation toward sexual topics (and photographs), a false “meet-up” was arranged, & each suspect promptly arrested upon arrival.
While the sting was a great success, the announcement of it makes it clear that online predators are getting craftier in their shady methods. In the very words of State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan,
“These arrests serve as a sobering reminder that parents should closely monitor their child’s online activity.”
We can set timers, set parental restrictions and block certain websites, but we also need to be even more discerning in educating our kids’ about who they chat with -or who they shouldn’t be chatting with.
You have to talk to your kids about predators
I recently got caught off-guard in this very same situation. My older kids have limited access to a few of their own social media apps, which are all set to “private”. Despite that setting, however, my 16 year old daughter was messaged on Snapchat by a person with the same first name as someone she knows. She accepted the chat, & the individual asked a few sleazy questions. She not only blocked him, but had the presence of mind to screenshot the conversation AND bring it to my attention.
This time, I was lucky. I realized after the fact that I had never discussed what she should do in a situation where she’s not totally sure who is trying to contact her. It can be tricky, especially if the person claims to be a teen as well. Who really knows? How far could it have gone?
As parents, we can equip ourselves & our kids to deal with this slimy new predator method. We can do our best to stay informed as to WHO they are talking to, & educate them on avoiding any kind of prolonged conversation with people online that they don’t definitively know in real life.
Fortnite can, & should, be fun for its underage fans, & our vigilance as parents can help to keep it that way.
Uh, no…. actually the floss was started by the backpack kid about a year before.
Reading comprehension is an important life skill… The article says Fortnite “featured” the floss dance, not that they created it.
…That’s what you got out of this article? Awesome.
I love the moral-panic, lock-up-your-sons juxtaposition of photos of a teen male (especially apparent when this article is shared on social media) with what are apparently those horrible homosexuals when most if not all of these men are probably straight and most of this type of abuse is committed by men on under-aged girls. Hey but never let a chance for homophobia pass us by. If it’s a story anywhere in the media about love then the representative photo is always man and woman, but when we need to represent predators let’s make sure we use the image of males with males to make it seem even more horrifying. This make me angry for all the wrong reasons.
Robert, I’m surprise with the words you use. Homophobic, yes you are. That should not have been included (horrible homosexuals). Over 90 percent of Pedophiles are not homosexual. Sexual predators are men and women. Using images of males and males is extremely stereotypical. A little Psychology would help to understand that child sex predictors are mostly caught with child pornography, pics of children having sex, etc. Sounds ugly, yes, Homosexuality is not Pedophilia. I would be more afraid knowing there’s a Pedo involved.
I completely agree with you Robert, and Daniel, you misunderstood what Robert said. You’re actually making the same point.
You win the internet today. My thoughts exactly
So if a parent finds something they feel is inappropriate going on is there someone they should report it to or how should it be handled….
chatting is talking to other people who are using the Internet at the same time you are. Usually, this “talking” is the exchange of typed-in messages requiring one site as the repository for the messages and a group of users who take part from anywhere on the Internet.