Senate Bill sb0842

    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                       SR 842

    By Senator Wilson





    33-345-07

  1                        Senate Resolution

  2         A resolution encouraging the education of

  3         parents and children regarding the dangers of

  4         sexual solicitation and the abuse of youth.

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  6         WHEREAS, nationwide, one in three girls and one in six

  7  boys experience some form of sexual abuse before age 18, and

  8         WHEREAS, sexual assaults comprise 67 percent of the

  9  crimes against juvenile victims, and

10         WHEREAS, by the end of 1998, more than 40 percent of

11  all American homes had computers and 25 percent had Internet

12  access, and children and teenagers constitute one of the

13  fastest-growing groups of Internet users, with an estimated 77

14  million children having online access in 2005, and

15         WHEREAS, educating parents and children concerning the

16  risks that are associated with the Internet is of paramount

17  importance to the safety of children, and

18         WHEREAS, the Center for Missing and Exploited Children

19  reports that only one-third of the households having Internet

20  access are proactively protecting their children by using

21  filtering or blocking software, and

22         WHEREAS, 75 percent of children are willing to share

23  personal information online about themselves and their family

24  in exchange for goods and services, and

25         WHEREAS, the website of the Department of Law

26  Enforcement reports that only about 25 percent of the youth

27  who have encountered a sexual approach or solicitation while

28  using the Internet told a parent, and

29         WHEREAS, the Crimes Against Children Research Center

30  reports that one in five teenagers in the United States

31  regularly logging on to the Internet reports that he or she

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    Florida Senate - 2007        (NP)                       SR 842
    33-345-07




 1  has received an unwanted sexual solicitation via the Internet,

 2  and

 3         WHEREAS, research indicates that 69 percent of parents

 4  and 76 percent of youth do not know where or how to report

 5  incidents of sexual solicitation on the Internet, NOW,

 6  THEREFORE,

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 8  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:

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10         That the Florida Senate encourages parents and children

11  to learn about the incidence of sexual abuse and the risks

12  associated with online communication and urges parents to

13  learn how to protect their children while they are online and

14  how and where to report cases of sexual solicitation and

15  exploitation which occur over the Internet.

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