Message From the D.A.
Why you need to know what your child does on the Internet

Much like the real world, the World Wide Web can be an inviting but dangerous place for children. Young people with unmonitored access to the Internet are exposed to a wide variety of risks, some of them life-threatening. When it comes to where and with whom our kids are allowed to play, what they watch on TV, and how they interact with strangers, responsible parents naturally exercise caution and oversight. We should be just as vigilant in safeguarding our children’s Internet activities.

As with adults, the World Wide Web offers many benefits to children, including valuable educational resources and communication tools that make it easier for them to keep in touch with people who are important to them. But the Internet also offers kids easy access to a variety of objectionable and even dangerous material – including pornography, hate propaganda, and violent images.

Children can and regularly do receive unsolicited e-mail communications from Internet predators who seek to harm kids they meet online. Pedophiles, for example, can operate with complete anonymity on the Internet, which provides them an endless supply of potential victims – our children. But parents and police are not powerless to stop Internet predators. We must work together to protect our children by educating them about dangers posed by the Internet and by monitoring and restricting our kids’ online activities.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office is committed to protecting our children from becoming victims of online crime or engaging in illegal Internet activities themselves. The goals of the Protecting Our Kids Web site initiative are simple. We want to reduce the number of kids exploited and abducted by Internet predators; we hope to increase the reporting of such criminal activity; and we strive to provide parents, guardians, and educators with resources to make our kids’ online experiences safe, educational, and fun.

Steve Cooley
District Attorney
Los Angeles County

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Site updated: 07 Feb 2006
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