On November 12, 2008, the Department of Justice launched a new National Public Awareness Campaign along with several Project Safe Childhood (PSC) partners, including SRF. PSC was introduced to the public in 2006 to combat the increase of sexual predators using the Internet to entice and sexually exploit children in the United States. SRF subcontracted Hispanic Communications Network (HCN), iKeepSafe, and INOBTR (”I Know Better”) to develop a series of Public Service Announcements (PSA’s) for the Spanish-speaking Hispanic population in the U.S.

The campaign garnered over 86 million media impressions via television; over 44 million media impressions via radio; over 42 million media impressions via the Internet; and over 450,000 media impressions via pre-film commercials in movie theaters.

Why Internet Safety? One in seven children in the United States receives a sexual message via Internet each year.  48% of mothers admit they don’t know what their children do online.  Nearly 7% of 12-14 year-olds have received a request for a nude photo of themselves and 14% of 12-14 year olds have participated in a sexual chatroom.  Among teens these numbers rise substantially.  Over half of all teens receive requests for personal information about themselves, 54% have private online conversations with strangers via instant messaging, and 77% have a personal online profile viewable by anyone.

The television spots produced by SRF include:

Depredadores Encuentran a Tus Hijos por Internet:  An announcement targeting parents, encouraging them to supervise and get involved in their children’s Internet use to keep them from predators.

No Arruines Tu Vida: An announcement targeting potential Internet predators, educating them onthe consequences of publishing child pornography or targeting minors via the Internet.  This is particularly important for immigrants coming from countries with different definitions of “minors” and predatory behavior.

The Truth Behind the Screen: A three-part series directed at parents to raise awareness of the importance of supervising their children’s Internet activity.

A website was also created to support the campaign at www.protegelosahora.org by iKeepSafe.

This project was supported by Grant No. 2007-JL-FX-K009 awarded by the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, Office of Justice Programs, U.S. Department of Justice. Points of view or opinions expressed here do not represent the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.