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. About 40 percent of the nation’s minors have access to Webcams, Carrill explained, devices for uploading live video to the Internet. About 65 percent of all children have access to cell phone cameras.Carrill’s team recently started a new operation to search image-trading Web sites for known child pornography in Missouri. The results were frightening, he said. More than 6,000 images were found in the state; about 700 of those pictures were downloaded in the Kansas City area.Between sexual predators who fish for images and immature decisions by kids with cameras, more children are either having their images posted online or being exposed to pornography, according to a 2006 report by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

In the end, the best tool to defeat child pornography is parent education, according to both Shehan and Carrill. More than anything, kids need to know they can trust their parents.“It’s through that open line of communication between the parent and child that they can work through or prevent bad situations,” Carrill said.

All parents should follow a few basic rules when it comes to cyber safety, according to experts:- Keep computers in common areas of the home.- Monitor Internet use by children.- Enable privacy protection software.- Turn Webcams off or protect them with a password.- Track what images are being uploaded by children in the household.- Talk to children about what is appropriate.