Many parents don't realize the dangers involved with their kids communicating online with total strangers.
The number of internet predators is increasing, and many of them are convicted offenders and pedophiles, and are proud of their actions and desires.
Some of these perverts will set up fake identities on social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, in order to attract vulnerable children into their groups.
As parents, we need do be interactive with our kid's online activities, to keep them from being victimized by criminals and predators.

• Use an alias for social networking sites.
  

Always have them use a nickname and never post their age, address or phone number on a public page.
Even though some sites may ask for this information, it is usually not required, and if it is, they need to drop the site.
There are hundreds of social networking sites online these days, so it's best to play it safe.
If they insist on posting a picture, they can use a cartoon image or even a picture of their pet.
Pedophiles have been known to post children's pictures and profiles on their own twisted websites.
They can just give their friends and family their alias information and they are good to go.

• Be aware of who your kids are communicating with.
  

Email is another popular method for pedophiles to gain the trust of unsuspecting youngsters.
Nobody wants to spy on their own kids, but you need to monitor their email activity, especially if they are being secretive about their contacts.
There are many paid services that allow you to reverse search an email address or phone number, and will give you whatever public information is available on that person.

• Use your computer's parental controls.
  

If you are like most parents, you are the one that paid for the computers your kids use, so you should not feel bad about monitoring the use of them.
You should set yourself as the administrator in Windows, where you can control what types of sites are allowed.
If you are not sure how to set up parental controls, just go through the help files on your computer for instructions.
Some internet service providers even offer online controls.
Do not, under any circumstances, give your kids your password! Today's youth are computer savvy and could easily bypass the parental controls if given access to the administrator's account.
You can do your part as a responsible parent, and help fight crime and perversion, while helping your kids have a rewarding and safe online experience.
f you think someone may be threatening your loved ones, you can quickly check them out for previous criminal activity.
All you need is an email address, phone number, name or street address to find any public information available.