The Womens Resource Center

The internet has given the public endless opportunities to explore, search and communicate with one another around the world or with a friend across the street. It is becoming a valuable educational tool for children and adults alike. While many of the web's capabilities are positive it also contains many ways in which a child or an adult can be stalked. The web has opened the door to individuals whose main purpose is to exploit and 'hunt' children. These individuals are classified as stalkers since they use computers and the internet to gain access to their victims, they are defined as 'cyber' stalkers.

Chat rooms can be a dangerous area on the internet. These lines are easy for a stalker to find their prey. They involve 'live' one on one contact with another individual or in a room with many other 'chatters'. People on chat lines can find out roughly where you live and also the full name you used to obtain your internet account. A person enters a chatroom and begins conversing with another person. These rooms are sometimes used by people to exploit others. Rooms by teenagers are sometimes used by pedophiles to find victims. A child or teen may meet someone in a chat room that is willing to listen and offer advice and this person is posing as a teenager but in fact, this person could be an adult. They can log onto your account while you are online and gain personal information, which is a risk to children and adults.

The best way to assure that your children are having positive online experiences is to stay in touch with what they are doing. One way to do this is to spend time with your children while they're online. Getting online yourself will help you obtain the full benefits of these systems and alert you to any potential problem that may occur with their use. By taking responsibility for your children's online computer use, parents can greatly minimize any potential risks of being online. Here is a list of some guidelines and resources for parents.

Have your child ask for permission before logging on.

Spend time with your child while they are online.

Consider keeping the computer in a family room rather than the child's bedroom. Get to know their 'on-line friends' just as you get to know all of their other friends.

Tell your child to never give out their password, change the password frequently, and to create a password with a combination of letters and numbers .

Monitor the amount of time your child spends with the computer. Excessive use of online services, especially late at night, may signal a potential problem.

Make sure children understand that they should never meet anyone in real life that they met online without parents in attendance, and that people online are often not honest about who or what they are.

Never leave your computer logged in unattended.

Remember that online people may not be who they seem. Someone indicating that they are a 12 year old girl, could really be a 40 year old man.

Consider using child protection software to keep an eye on your child's use of the internet.

Instruct children to not give out their home address, school information, telephone number, or any other personal information.

Teen advocacy is a program where a teen is trained to provide services and assistance for another teen who has asked to be assisted in a crisis. The teen advocate program provides services for victims of sexual and dating violence, victims of hate crimes, and people dealing with disorders such as self- injury, bulimia, anorexia nervosa, and other potentially dangerous problems that could cause serious harm to themselves or others.

This service will provide more options for teens. An adult advocate would screen a crisis call and make the decision on whether the individual could be assisted by a teen advocate. Then the individual would be asked whether they would like to speak to a teen advocate. By doing this it leaves an option available for the teen. The teen advocate would then call and speak with the teen caller.

The teen volunteers will attend training similar to the adult advocate training. They will work in cooperation with each other and hopefully a sense of teamwork will arise. The teen advocates hours would be limited due to of conflicts in scheduling such as school or work. A schedule will be worked out between all of the teen volunteers which will make someone available at all times.

This service, when implemented will benefit everyone, advocates and victims. The main objective is to make a difference for others and work toward a violence free community.

The Women's Resource Center is currently in the process of implementing a teen advocacy program. If anyone has any questions or would like to volunteer, please call the Women's Resource Center at 228-8401.

The Women's Resource Center has their web site up and running. The address is: www.thewrc.org. This site lists all of our services, crisis line numbers, satellite office numbers and upcoming events throughout the service area.

Girl Talk / Boy Talk is a presentation for youth in grades 7-12. Information is presented at each session on a different topic such as dating violence, sexual assault, self harm, respect, hate crimes, and self image. The girls and the boys are separated and grades are combined into 7/8, 9/10/ 11/12. Everyone is encouraged to ask any questions they may have. This program has been done in the Scobey and Nashua schools, and has had excellent responses from the students and the administration. The WRC already has several presentations scheduled for the next couple of months.

***In 1999 persons in households with incomes less than $7,500 annually experienced the highest rate of violence of all income categories. ( 58 per 1,000 persons)--U.S. Dept. of Justice

The Champion of Champions is scheduled for May 5, 2001 so mark your calendars. Plans are underway and events are being planned. More details will follow.

***Some advocates believe up to 80% of stalking cases occur within intimate relationships.--National Institute of Justice Research, 1996.

The WRC values and appreciates the dedication and commitment made by volunteers. If you are interested or know of someone who is interested in volunteering please contact the WRC at 228-8401.