You have grown up in a technological world and it is almost impossible to get an education without computers in todays society. The World Wide Web can be a great tool, and it can be very educational, but in todays society it can also be a dangerous place to be. Even though you are in your own home, a place you should feel safe no matter what, there are dangers that teens face and may not even be aware of it. Those dangers are Internet predators.

The definition of an Internet predator is one who uses cyber space to hunt human beings with the intent to exploit, rob, plunder and pillage their body, mind, heart and soul.

As summer vacation grows near, many of you will be at home during the day playing online and on your social networking sites. In the world we live in today, there is not only stranger danger in real life, but online as well. According to Cyber Tip Line, one in five kids will be solicited in some way by an Internet predator. If your five best friends we standing before you, would you sacrifice any one of them to a predator?

So many times we give out information without even realizing that little bits of that information can be put together like a puzzle to create an identity. There is a rule that we use and we teach kids in our seminars, and that is that if it is information you would not give to a stranger in a park alone at night, then it is information that would be considered TMI - Too Much Information. Someone who is out to cause you harm will take that information and create your identity, and before you know it they know more about you than you ever intended.

There are teens who do not have an option any more to remove personal information about themselves. I got an email from a woman named Danielle Helms. Her daughters name was Kristin. She had her information online. She had her photo online. And she met someone online. He traumatized her so badly that she couldn't deal with it. She committed suicide. She was 14. Her mothers email said, "Do not let my daughter be forgotten!" And there are so many others. Too many others. Kacie Woody, Christina Long, Francelee Amada, Judy Cajuste, Kayla Wood. Story after story that didn't have to be.

So how do you protect yourselves? Remember one rule - any site that has chat capability has the ability to contain a predator. Set your page to private on your social networking sites. Have a neutral screen name so no one can tell if you are male or female. Set your default photo to something neutral. Set your photos to private. Look at your information you have online. Look at your own page and write down everything you have about yourself on your page. Look at the identity it creates. If you want, contact us on Myspace, at http://www.myspace.com/innosed or http://www.myspace.com/career_cop, and we will profile your page and let you know what should be changed to better protect yourself. Go through your friends lists. If you do not know someone in real life, how can you be 100% sure they are who they say they are? If you do not know them in real life, you can't be sure. If you are in a chat room, or playing games like Runescape or World of Warcraft, remember that anyone you talk to can be whoever they want to be and you cannot know for sure if they are telling the truth. They can be any sex, any age, and be in any location they want to be. Remember, there is no reason for an adult to talk to a kid online.

I had an 11 year old girl tell me once that the computer is a privilege and life is a privilege. If you abuse one you could lose the other.

There is one more way to better protect yourself. Add Law Enforcement to your friends list. Add an "Online Bodyguard". If you don't have a Myspace page, bookmark it so you will have it for reference. You then know if you need it, you have help a mouse click away. You have over 140 agencies and officers to choose from. Add them as a friend. I dare you! Take this one challenge. If you need them, one click of a mouse and you have help.

We hope you take this information with you when you go on summer break and use it to protect yourself, your friends, and your siblings. The way you can protect yourselves is to know that you have a very powerful weapon, and that weapon is your voice. If you are in trouble or you know of a friend that is in trouble, know that it is okay to speak up and tell someone. If you are afraid to go to your mom and dad, you can go to any adult you trust as long as you use your voice. You can message any Law Enforcement Officer and say I need help. It is always better to speak up and be wrong, than to say nothing and be right. Don't become another story for us to use to educate teens about these dangers.