Friday, 39-year-old Carl Byers Jr. was charged with using the internetto try to lure a 15-year-old Ohio girl to Raleigh for sexual purposes.
Brad Mehlenbacher studies trends in the internet, and says like othertechnologies, pornography has worked its way in.
One fact about Byers that might cause some public consternation is thathe worked for the North Carolina Community College system. Mehlenbachercommented that many people believe that colleges and universities are verystrict about what is put out over their computer systems.
The fact of the matter is, only two universities in the United Statesactively limit what people can access on school computer systems. Andstudents are learning that it's not all that hard to find explicitmaterial.
Right now there's nothing that limits pornography on the internet whichmeans adults and children can access it pretty freely. But some computerexperts, such as computer salesman David Upchurch, say there are waysparents can protect their children before they ever sign on.
And as computers grow, so do parents' fears. Because they know thatwith or without supervision, the place to be nowadays is surfing the net.
On a side note, most computer stores sell a variety of computersoftware programs that limit a child's access to the internet, and theycost as little as $30.Reported byTerri Gruca
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