Content Descriptions

• Social media networking sites are dangerous to children and teenagers.
• Facebook is the number one social media networking site in the world.
• Facebook is also were child offenders look for prey and try to take advantage of those they find they can communicate and get information out of.
• Parents are unable to monitor their child’s every movement causing them to browse and explore things they might be ready for on the internet.
• Children have unlimited access causing them to end up on certain websites, talking to people they would not talk to in person and don’t actually know.
• Teenagers care more about the amount of followers and “friends” they have on social media but they are not actually looking at who is following them.

1. Working Hypothesis 1

The children and teenagers of this generation have unlimited access to the internet. They are able to get online and check social media at the tip of there finger. Although the internet can sometimes come in handy there are many dangerous sites out there. Facebook has become somewhere you can contact old friends and family members, yet when meeting new people online you never know if the person on the other end is showing there true self. Teenagers are so caught up on how many “friends or followers” they have they are accepting everyone and not realizing they might be adding someone that can be a threat. Many child offenders look online to find children and teenagers have might give too much information or post an excessive amount.

American Psychological Association. “Most Internet Sex Offenders Aim At Teens, Not Young Children, Study Shows.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 February 2008. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/02/080218185101.htm>.

Most Internet sex offenders pose as young kids to attract the same age group.They lure children to meeting them, with the child thinking they are meeting someone the same age as them, they then kidnap them and forcibly raping them.

Working Hypothesis 2

Child offenders are everywhere especially online. A parents first instinct is always to protect there child but they can only do so much when their children are online talking to people they don’t know. It is crucial to express the dangers of online sites especially social media like Facebook. Offenders are constantly looking for children and teenagers they would describe as “weak” or those that put too much information on there page. Teenagers do not think twice when posting things and believe that they will not be the one this will happen to. In reality it can happen to anyone and we don’t realize it until it is to late. It is extremely important that we protect ourselves as much as possible when on Facebook. When on sites like Facebook we want to be friends with people that we know outside the virtual world and talk to in real life, we also want to be aware of the things were posting, for example we want to avoid any personal information on where you live or your location and what time you will arrive.

O’Donnell, Andy. “Know the Dangers of Oversharing on Facebook.” Lifewire. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Feb. 2017.

When oversharing on Facebook we want to shy away from any personal information that can get us into trouble. It is extremely important to protect ourselves online and those in our lives. Offenders and stalkers have easy access to see what they want, when they want.

2. Topics for Smaller Papers 

• Defintion/Classification Argument 

For this I can express the dangers of Facebook. I can state that most of the internet users today are the younger generation thinking they can cause no harm being on social media when in fact it is completely the opposite.

• Cause/Effect Argument 

I can explain that teenagers care about the amount of followers and friends they have so much that they are not looking at the people they are accepting. They are accepting people who look friendly and cause no harm but can be dangerous and putting up a false front. They are accepting those that they don’t know or would not talk to in people or might have never seen before. This causes offenders to make a fake profile and add someone they believe might be an easy target because of the things they post.

• Rebuttal Argument 

I could argue that even though parents are telling there kids the dangers of online sites, they don’t listen. How else can we warn children and protect them when they refuse to listen and follow rules.

3. Current State of Research Paper:

I believe I need to do more research now that I have focused strictly on this one topic. With the research that I have found now I strongly believe I can find more great articles and data  that I can come up with a great counterintuitive argument.