As Internet Usage Grows, Sexual Offenses Against Kids Have Decreased

from the damn-those-facts dept

We've been pointing out for a while that the supposed "threat" of online sexual predators has been blown way out of proportion, thanks to the press and politicians' desire to create moral panics that allow politicians to make themselves look good while passing useless laws. The Berkman Center, at Harvard, is about to come out with a new study that shows just how big a myth this has been. As the internet and things like social networks became more popular, the number of incidents of sexual offenses against children has dropped. Of course, if you only listen to politicians or read the sensationalistic press on these things, you'd think that was impossible. This isn't to say that there aren't sexual predators out there, or that kids shouldn't be taught to be careful, but just to make it clear that the actual risk is pretty remote.

Filed Under: sexual offenses, sexual predators, statistics