HOUSTON—The FBI is warning parents to be on the lookout for predators who target kids on popular social networking sites.
Since it’s summer, more kids will be spending time at home. And with the down economy, the cost of child care may force more parents to leave their kids at home alone.
That could leave them open to danger online.
"They leave them home," the FBI’s Amanda Hinton said. "And a lot of times when you leave kids at home, they’re going to turn to the electronics."
But while predators used to lurk in chat rooms, the FBI says social media websites like Facebook and MySpace have become a favorite target.
"The predator, basically, it’s like a shopping mall. He looks through the social networking sites, he looks for someone he’s interested in talking to, and he capitalizes on what he says their interests were," Hinton said.
Lili Bocanegra and her twin sister, Olivia, said they know the dangers that can lurk online. They said they know people who’ve fallen victim to predators, and they’ve taken the FBI’s warning to heart.
"Kids are so bored that they have nothing better to do but get on the computer," Lili Bocanegra said.
They said they feel safer spending their summer in public places, like the Jamail Skate Park near Downtown Houston.
"Here, they have guards, people who actually skate here and work here. And they’ll be like, ‘Oh, well maybe you shouldn’t do this. Maybe you should just stay here or wait for your parents,’" Olivia Bocanegra said.
"Even at the mall. They’re safer there, because I mean, it’s a public place. Like if somebody screams, everybody is going to look and you’re going to be like, freaking out, so I think anywhere is better than home," Lili Bocanegra added.
The FBI said the predators’ targets aren’t always teenagers. Sometimes, they’re as young as 10 or 11.
"The predators are in it, you know, for sexual purposes. So that’s what they’re after. That’s the type of things that happen. Worst-case scenario, a kid leaves with a predator, disappears, and you don’t see them anymore," Hinton said.
Houston mom Caprica Greer has three kids under the age of 13. She said she worries about them a lot, but even more so in the summer.
"It could be your next-door neighbor. It could be an uncle. It could be a step-parent. You just never know anymore," she said. "I’ve been lucky. My younger children don’t have MySpace or Facebook pages or anything like that. But it’s there for them to get into."
