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blog Don’t be a Noob – Talk to Boys About Online Safety

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month, and it’s an important time to talk about the online exploitation of children. Today, children are spending more time on the internet. During the COVID-19 pandemic there has been a dramatic increase in reports of online exploitation. In the year 2020 alone, reports of online enticement to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) to the CyberTipline grew by 97.5% compared to 2019. Online video games have been very popular for years and are especially popular now. Because of social distancing precautions, more and more children (especially boys) are playing online video games for entertainment and as a way to socialize with friends. . Online sexual exploitation using gaming platforms is often not at the top of their list of concerns. If you’re a “noob” or someone new to online gaming, it is important to know that these video games are not like what you might have played as a young person- they have become more than just games, but also a tool to connect with friends and meet new people. Using built-in chat features on consoles like Xbox and PlayStation, young children can connect through the game itself and on […]

Posted by Mitchell Kuhlman, National Center for Missing & Exploited Children on

IMG 2233 scaled e1619457301576 Houston Crime Stoppers Every child deserves to feel safe and protected, period.

My name is Kerry McCracken. I am the Executive Director of The Children’s Assessment Center, Harris County’s Advocacy Center for sexually abused children. I am so grateful that April has been designated as National Child Abuse Prevention Month to bring even more emphasis to this sad but important issue. Every child deserves to feel safe and protected, period. 175 children are abused in Texas every day. 700,000 children are abused in the United States every year. These numbers are shocking and unacceptable. Child abuse comes in many forms. Physical abuse, sexual abuse, neglect, emotional abuse, and malnutrition are all abuse. No form of abuse is acceptable and all forms of abuse are preventable. That’s where you come in. It is every adult in our community’s job to protect children and prevent abuse. So how do we do that? Report any suspicion of child abuse. It’s the right thing to do. Many people are afraid of reporting suspicions of abuse but when weighing the pros and cons it is an easy choice: (1) Report child abuse so that a trained professional can investigate the allegation and either determine that no abuse occurred or determine that abuse has occurred and remove the […]

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