Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Saturday
New Videogame Teaches Children To Avoid Online Predators
Aired October 04, 2003 - 14:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty-three hundred children are reported missing to the FBI every year, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Many of the victims of Internet predators. And now a video game is teaching children how to avoid the traps set by predators online.
Here's CNN's Julie Vallese in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Zach, just an average American kid with average teenage problems. Well-versed in the Internet, he turns to chat rooms for a sympathetic ear. But what he gets is a whole lot more from a pedophile and predator named Fantasma (ph).
But this isn't real life. It's an Internet safety computer game called "Missing."
DOUGLAS LOWENSTEIN, PRESIDENT, ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE ASSOCIATION: "Missing" offers a safe environment in which players explore real-world situations, make their own decisions, and learn through their own mistakes.
VALLESE: The goal of the game is for players to find Zach before he disappears and solve the crime.
DEP. CHIEF LOU PACHECO, MASSACHUSETTS POLICE: We don't use "Missing" to have the kids go out as bait to lure predators in. So we don't encourage that whatsoever. We've giving them tools so that they don't get lured.
VALLESE: Katie Canton's real-life experience with a man she met online could have been devastating, but she credits the intervention of her parents and the "Missing" game from keeping that from happening.
KATIE CANTON, SOLICITED ONLINE: As I played, I started to notice things that were almost identical to the things that the guy I was talking to were doing and saying. And it was frightening.
VALLESE (on camera): Even more frightening are statistics from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that out of every five teens between the ages of 15 and 17 that are abducted, two are due to Internet activity.
(voice-over): Grants from Congress and the Entertainment Software Association will help expand existing state programs to allow the game be distributed in all 50 states.
Julie Vallese, CNN, Capitol Hill.
STOUFFER: That missing video game is marketed by Web Wise Kids, and Judi Westberg-Warren is president of the organization. She joins us live now from Washington.
Thanks for being with us today.
JUDI WESTBERG-WARREN, WEB WISE KIDS: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
STOUFFER: Well, you work with this issue. Do you think parents are clueless a lot of times about what their kids are doing online?
WESTBERG-WARREN: Oh, absolutely, and I think kids want to keep them that way, because they're having a lot of fun.
STOUFFER: Well, what should parents look for? What are some of the warning signs we should all be aware of?
WESTBERG-WARREN: Well, one of the things is to keep the computer in a central location in the house so that it's not in a private room. The other thing is to make sure that you're aware of where your children are going to chat online.
STOUFFER: When should you be worried? Is there certain behavior or comments you should look for in your children?
WESTBERG-WARREN: It's very difficult to tell, because, as Katie was saying, the girl in San Francisco who realized she was being victimized, she deliberately did not want her parents and family to know what she was talking about online. But you can look for a child who's discontented, who is withdrawing, and who is spending way too much time on the Internet.
STOUFFER: Because kids think they're savvy, especially about technical things like computers and the Internet, especially teenagers. I would think it would be hard to get them to listen about this issue for many parents.
WESTBERG-WARREN: It is. And that's why Web Wise Kids was so excited to discover the "Missing" game. It's the center point of our program because kids love to play it. What a better way to reach kids than through one of their favorite pastimes, computer games.
They play the detective on the game, and they play games within the game to write down the clues in their detective manual and try to find the missing boy before he goes over yet another international border. And so it's a fun game. The most important thing about it is that it's preventative.
It's an approach which is a fun, proactive and preventative approach to this very difficult issue. And we know that one of the things that the children take away with them is the understanding of the lures that the pedophile uses. And that understanding the child can take with them to whatever computer they're on, whether it's at school, at a friend's house, at home, or in the library.
STOUFFER: I want to talk about that in just a moment. But first, what about the game? Is this something families can get on their own or schools? How do you get it?
WESTBERG-WARREN: Yes, we work with families. We also work with law enforcement, we work with schools. We work with youth organizations, after-school groups. And they can contact Web Wise Kids, and we'll either put them in touch with somebody that's in their state or we'll try to help them bring the program to their own community.
STOUFFER: Now, let's get to what you were talking about, about the approach that predators sometimes use with children or kids online. What are some things that they try to do?
WESTBERG-WARREN: Well, as with Zach in the game, the predator -- it's a normal procedure for the predator to try to identify with where the child's interests are. And for Zach, he had several areas of interest that the predator identified with.
And then to separate them from their family. To say, I understand you better than your family does. And then after that they establish a relationship. And I think it's very important to know that everybody is saying to kids, don't talk to strangers online. But by the time that these kids know these predators, they are not strangers. They seem like close friends.
And then the predator sometimes will offer them gifts or send them things through the mail, offer them an opportunity for -- as they did for Zach -- to live a California dreaming lifestyle, which is what he wanted, money, fun, influence, whatever the child wants. And that's why the predators get to know the child very well.
STOUFFER: A serious problem parents didn't even have to worry about a couple of years ago. Judi Westberg-Warren with Web Wise Kids, thank you very much for talking with us.
WESTBERG-WARREN: Thank you for having us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 4, 2003 - 14:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LINDA STOUFFER, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty-three hundred children are reported missing to the FBI every year, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. Many of the victims of Internet predators. And now a video game is teaching children how to avoid the traps set by predators online.
Here's CNN's Julie Vallese in Washington.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meet Zach, just an average American kid with average teenage problems. Well-versed in the Internet, he turns to chat rooms for a sympathetic ear. But what he gets is a whole lot more from a pedophile and predator named Fantasma (ph).
But this isn't real life. It's an Internet safety computer game called "Missing."
DOUGLAS LOWENSTEIN, PRESIDENT, ENTERTAINMENT SOFTWARE ASSOCIATION: "Missing" offers a safe environment in which players explore real-world situations, make their own decisions, and learn through their own mistakes.
VALLESE: The goal of the game is for players to find Zach before he disappears and solve the crime.
DEP. CHIEF LOU PACHECO, MASSACHUSETTS POLICE: We don't use "Missing" to have the kids go out as bait to lure predators in. So we don't encourage that whatsoever. We've giving them tools so that they don't get lured.
VALLESE: Katie Canton's real-life experience with a man she met online could have been devastating, but she credits the intervention of her parents and the "Missing" game from keeping that from happening.
KATIE CANTON, SOLICITED ONLINE: As I played, I started to notice things that were almost identical to the things that the guy I was talking to were doing and saying. And it was frightening.
VALLESE (on camera): Even more frightening are statistics from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children that out of every five teens between the ages of 15 and 17 that are abducted, two are due to Internet activity.
(voice-over): Grants from Congress and the Entertainment Software Association will help expand existing state programs to allow the game be distributed in all 50 states.
Julie Vallese, CNN, Capitol Hill.
STOUFFER: That missing video game is marketed by Web Wise Kids, and Judi Westberg-Warren is president of the organization. She joins us live now from Washington.
Thanks for being with us today.
JUDI WESTBERG-WARREN, WEB WISE KIDS: Thank you. Thank you for having me.
STOUFFER: Well, you work with this issue. Do you think parents are clueless a lot of times about what their kids are doing online?
WESTBERG-WARREN: Oh, absolutely, and I think kids want to keep them that way, because they're having a lot of fun.
STOUFFER: Well, what should parents look for? What are some of the warning signs we should all be aware of?
WESTBERG-WARREN: Well, one of the things is to keep the computer in a central location in the house so that it's not in a private room. The other thing is to make sure that you're aware of where your children are going to chat online.
STOUFFER: When should you be worried? Is there certain behavior or comments you should look for in your children?
WESTBERG-WARREN: It's very difficult to tell, because, as Katie was saying, the girl in San Francisco who realized she was being victimized, she deliberately did not want her parents and family to know what she was talking about online. But you can look for a child who's discontented, who is withdrawing, and who is spending way too much time on the Internet.
STOUFFER: Because kids think they're savvy, especially about technical things like computers and the Internet, especially teenagers. I would think it would be hard to get them to listen about this issue for many parents.
WESTBERG-WARREN: It is. And that's why Web Wise Kids was so excited to discover the "Missing" game. It's the center point of our program because kids love to play it. What a better way to reach kids than through one of their favorite pastimes, computer games.
They play the detective on the game, and they play games within the game to write down the clues in their detective manual and try to find the missing boy before he goes over yet another international border. And so it's a fun game. The most important thing about it is that it's preventative.
It's an approach which is a fun, proactive and preventative approach to this very difficult issue. And we know that one of the things that the children take away with them is the understanding of the lures that the pedophile uses. And that understanding the child can take with them to whatever computer they're on, whether it's at school, at a friend's house, at home, or in the library.
STOUFFER: I want to talk about that in just a moment. But first, what about the game? Is this something families can get on their own or schools? How do you get it?
WESTBERG-WARREN: Yes, we work with families. We also work with law enforcement, we work with schools. We work with youth organizations, after-school groups. And they can contact Web Wise Kids, and we'll either put them in touch with somebody that's in their state or we'll try to help them bring the program to their own community.
STOUFFER: Now, let's get to what you were talking about, about the approach that predators sometimes use with children or kids online. What are some things that they try to do?
WESTBERG-WARREN: Well, as with Zach in the game, the predator -- it's a normal procedure for the predator to try to identify with where the child's interests are. And for Zach, he had several areas of interest that the predator identified with.
And then to separate them from their family. To say, I understand you better than your family does. And then after that they establish a relationship. And I think it's very important to know that everybody is saying to kids, don't talk to strangers online. But by the time that these kids know these predators, they are not strangers. They seem like close friends.
And then the predator sometimes will offer them gifts or send them things through the mail, offer them an opportunity for -- as they did for Zach -- to live a California dreaming lifestyle, which is what he wanted, money, fun, influence, whatever the child wants. And that's why the predators get to know the child very well.
STOUFFER: A serious problem parents didn't even have to worry about a couple of years ago. Judi Westberg-Warren with Web Wise Kids, thank you very much for talking with us.
WESTBERG-WARREN: Thank you for having us.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
