Moms: How to keep kids safe online

Parents who think putting the computer in the family room will keep their child safe online are in for a rude awakening, said Jaemi Levine of Coral Springs, Fla.

It's a lesson she learned the hard way.

In 2004, Levine's then 12-year-old daughter was lured to a face-to-face meeting with an Internet predator and sexually assaulted. Since then, Levine has created Mothers Against Predators to educate parents about keeping their kids safe online.

"Back then, we didn't know anything about computers or about monitoring," Levine said.

Experts say parents need to be diligent about monitoring children's online activities, but they also need to make kids understand the dangers.

PREDATORS LOVE THE INTERNET

Every day, one in seven children are solicited for sex online and one in three are shown inappropriate content, said Wilfredo Hernandez, a captain with the Florida state attorney general's Child Predator Cybercrime Unit in Fort Lauderdale.

"The Internet is a great place. Kids can do homework on it, they can have access to their teachers through it, but it can be a dangerous place," Hernandez said. "Before, predators needed to go to schools and parks to find where kids congregrate. Now they go to social networking sites, chat rooms and blogs to find kids ... The only way to combat that is to empower our kids."

Levine remembers that her daughter had started to withdraw, spending more and more time on the computer. The predator preyed on the girl's vulnerabilities, trading e-mails with her about a "mutual" love for puppies, and how he was lonely and needed a friend.

"The worst piece of advice is 'You're safe if the computer is in the living room,'" she said. "That is, unless you never sleep and you monitor it 24/7."

Daryl Hulce of Davie, Fla., co-founder of the FBI's Safe Online Surfing program, which educates kids about online safety, says the first step is to let kids know why they have to be careful.

WHAT TO TELL YOUR KIDS

People you meet online are not friends. "Just because someone is nice to you on the Internet does not make them your friend," Hulce said. "Predators are going to be warm and friendly. They're not going to be obvious."

Predators take their time befriending kids. "A predator may take six months or a year to groom or lure kids," Hulce said.

Predators will try to drive a wedge between child and parents.