Poster project aims to warn
youths of Internet predators

Teenagers who spend time in Internet chat rooms may think sharing little facts about themselves is all part of the getting-to-know-you process in the online world. But by divulging what seems to be innocent information to a new “friend,” teens may be setting themselves up to become victims of an Internet child predator.

An NC State professor wants teens to think twice about the information they readily share with other online users, and he hopes a new poster campaign will help educate them about the dangers of predators lurking in cyberspace.

Tony Brock, assistant professor of graphic design in the College of Design, turned to students in his graphic design studio class to develop educational posters about Internet predators. Some of the posters will be printed and displayed in Wake County middle and high schools, and will warn teens to be careful about the information they divulge during online chats.

According to a national study by the Crimes Against Children Research Center, one in five youths who regularly use the Internet say they have received unwanted sexual solicitations and approaches via the Web. Brock, whose research includes the study of various online environments, says predators are becoming more subtle in the way they entice their victims.

“You wouldn’t believe how these people work,” Brock said. “They ask what your high school colors and mascot are, and before you know it, it is simple to narrow down information on where you live.”

Brock said the idea for the project came after he talked with a North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation (SBI) agent about producing a statewide print and broadcast media campaign aimed at warning young people about Internet predators. The agent told Brock she had anonymously gleaned sensitive information from her niece in a chat room while posing as someone else.

“She found out her niece was giving out little bits of information that would have made it easy for someone who was a predator to figure out where she lived or where she went to school,” Brock said. “When the agent went back to her niece to let her know, her niece was surprised to learn she had given out so much information.”

When the federal funding for the campaign didn’t come through, Brock turned to the students in his studio to carry on with the project. Each of the 16 students was charged with developing two posters designed to target specific age groups about the dangers of Internet predators. The students had to research their intended audiences and create an effective message for that audience. The research also meant the studio members had to immerse themselves in teen and Internet culture.

“We wanted to look at the things teens look at and ask, ‘What’s the language? What’s the image? What kind of message speaks to them?’” Brock said. “That age group is incredibly savvy when it comes to language and visuals, and they can certainly sniff out anything that sounds like a didactic message coming down from adults.”

The SBI agent also assisted in critiquing the posters, which the students refined based on the agent’s suggestions for the final project. Brock said the agent was “quite impressed” with the quality of the students’ work and felt the posters “would be effective in getting the message out and hopefully deterring some of the information that teens reveal to those that are lurking around in cyberspace.”

Now Brock is working with the agent to place some of the posters in certain Wake County schools to gauge their effectiveness. Brock and his students also plan to go to the schools and evaluate the impact of the posters by questioning teachers and teens about the impact of the posters’ message – if the message was received, if it was at the right age level, if it was memorable and if it will change teens’ minds about what they reveal about themselves in chat rooms. Based on their findings, Brock hopes to secure some funding to expand the project to place posters in more schools across the region and state.

“We want to get the work in front of a range of age groups,” Brock said. “Hopefully, we can get them to change the way they approach using online chat environments.”

Posted April 27, 2004

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