GuardChild has researched and compiled a list of Child Internet Crime and Abuse Statistics from: The Pew Institute, The National Crime Prevention Center, The University of New Hampshire, Youth Internet Safety Survey, The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Crimes Against Children Resource Center, Child Exploitation and Online Protection, Psychologies Magazine, Project Tomorrow, FBI, Cox Communications and other resources.

Internet Crime and Abuse Statistics:

• Holding a cell phone while driving makes a crash 4 times as likely.
• Teens say that texting is their number one driver distraction.
• 21% of k-2 kids have access to cell phones.
• 48% of tweens and teens from 12-17 say they’ve been in a car while the driver was texting.
• 71% of teen girls and 67% of boys who sent or posted sexually suggestive content say they sent it to a boyfriend or girlfriend.
• 44% of tweens admitted they’ve watched something online their parents wouldn’t approve of (Only 28% of parents were aware of this).
• 17% of tweens surveyed said they received an email or online message with photos or words that made them feel uncomfortable. (Only 7 percent of parents were aware of this.)
• Female teens are far more likely than male teens to post personal photos or videos of themselves online.
• 22% of teenage girls say they posted nude or semi-nude photos or videos of themselves online.
• Only 15% of parents are “in the know” about their kids’ social networking habits, and how these behaviors can lead to cyberbullying.
• Texting while driving is more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol or marijuana.
• 70% of children 7 to 18 years old have accidentally encountered online pornography, often through a web search while doing homework.
• Girls are more likely than boys to be the target of cyber bullying.
• The largest group of Internet porn consumers is children ages 12-17.
• 86% of girls claimed to be able to conduct online chats without their parents knowing, 57% could read their parents’ e-mail, and 54% could conduct a cyber relationship.
• 20% of teenaged Internet users have been the target of an unwanted sexual solicitation (requests for sexual activities, chat, or information).
• 41% of unwanted sexual solicitations, 29% of unwanted exposure to sexual materials, and 31% of harassment occurred when children were online with their friends.
• In 2004, there were at least 3,433 child abuse domains online; in 2006 there were at least 10,656.
• 70% of kids ages 8-18 have accidentally encountered online pornography, very often by entering an innocent search term while doing their homework.
• 31% of kids ages 12-18 have lied about their age in order to access a website.
• 90% of children ages 8-16 have seen online pornography.
• Law enforcement officials estimate that more than 50,000 sexual predators are online at any given moment.
• 20% of all Internet pornography involves children, with more than 20,000 new images posted weekly.
• 65% of 8-14 year olds have been involved in a cyber-bullying incident.
• 96% of teens use social networking applications such as Facebook, MySpace, Chat rooms, and blogs.
• 69% of teens regularly receive online communications from strangers and don’t tell a parent or caretaker.
• 86% of the girls polled said they could chat online without their parents knowledge – 57% could read their parents e-mail, and 54% could have a cyber relationship.
• Approximately 89% of sexual solicitations of youth were made in chat rooms or through Instant Messaging.
• 12% of tweens have already been bullied by someone online. (Only 6% of parents knew this.)
• 95% of parents don’t know common chat room acronyms teenagers use such as when a parent is watching. The acronyms are POS (parent over shoulder), P911 (parent alert), and A/S/L (age/sex/location).
• An estimated 725,000 children have been “aggressively” asked for sex, defined as an offer to meet in person.
• The FBI reports a 2000 percent increase in the number of child pornography images on the internet since 1996.
• According to the FBI, Chat rooms offer the advantage of immediate communication around the world and provide the pedophile/predator with an anonymous means of recruiting children into sexually illicit relationships.
• Only 1/3 of households with Internet access are protecting their children with filtering or blocking software.
• Approximately 70% of all sex offenders released from prison will offend again.
• 1 in 33 youth received an aggressive sexual solicitation – Translation – A predator asked a young person to meet, called a young person on the phone, or sent the young person correspondence, money, or gifts.
• 77% of the victims for online predators were age 14 or older.
• Approximately 116,000 child pornography requests are made daily on the Internet.
• 1 in 5 youth ages 10 to 17 received a sexual solicitation or were approached online.
• Only a fraction of all inappropriate Internet episodes are reported to authorities

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