Florida Senate - 2009                             (NP)    SR 182
       
       
       
       By Senator Wilson
       
       
       
       
       33-00090-09                                            2009182__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution encouraging the education of parents and
    3         children regarding the dangers of sexual solicitation
    4         and the abuse of youth.
    5  
    6         WHEREAS, nationwide, one in three girls and one in six boys
    7  experience some form of sexual abuse before age 18, and
    8         WHEREAS, sexual assaults comprise 67 percent of the crimes
    9  against juvenile victims, and
   10         WHEREAS, by the end of 1998, more than 40 percent of all
   11  American homes had computers and 25 percent had Internet access,
   12  and children and teenagers constitute one of the fastest-growing
   13  groups of Internet users, with an estimated 77 million children
   14  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 in
   24  exchange for goods and services, and
   25         WHEREAS, the website of the Department of Law Enforcement
   26  reports that only about 25 percent of the youth who have
   27  encountered a sexual approach or solicitation while using the
   28  Internet told a parent, and
   29         WHEREAS, the Crimes Against Children Research Center
   30  reports that one in five teenagers in the United States who
   31  regularly logs onto the Internet receives an unwanted sexual
   32  solicitation via the Internet, and
   33         WHEREAS, research indicates that 69 percent of parents and
   34  76 percent of youth do not know where or how to report incidents
   35  of sexual solicitation on the Internet, NOW, THEREFORE,
   36  
   37  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   38         
   39         That the Florida Senate encourages parents and children to
   40  learn about the incidence of sexual abuse and the risks
   41  associated with online communication and urges parents to learn
   42  how to protect their children while they are online and how and
   43  where to report cases of sexual solicitation and exploitation
   44  which occur over the Internet.