The REAL Madness isn't on the Court...it's taking place off the court.
 

March Madness is in full swing, and the action on the basketball courts is unquestionably captivating and electrifying!

However, the real madness isn't taking place on the courts...it's happening to our children off the courts who are encountering very real dangers in the digital world at epidemic proportions. Consider the following statistics:

• Children under the age of 10 now account for 22% of online porn consumption among those under the age of 18, while 10- to 14-year-olds make up 36% of minors under age of 18 years old. (Bitdefender, 2016)

• 75% of teenagers have viewed pornography by age 17; average age of first exposure to pornography is age 12. Over 50% have seen violent pornography (rape, choking, someone in pain). (Common Sense Media, 2022)

• Reports of online enticement, including sextortion, increased by 265% from 2018 to 2021. (NCMEC, 2022)

• The U.S. accounted for 30% of the global total of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) URLs at end of March 2022. (Internet Watch Foundation, 2022)

• In 2022, NCMEC received more than 19,000 reports of child sex trafficking from all 50 U.S. States, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. (NCMEC)

• 1 in 5 girls and 1 in 10 boys (aged 13-17) say that they have shared their own nudes. 40% agreed that “it’s normal for people my age to share nudes with each other.” (Thorn, 2020)

• Average age of first perpetration of sexual violence is 15 -16 yrs. old; associated with exposure to pornography. (Johns Hopkins University, 2017)

• A meta-analysis of 37 studies found that exposure to violent or rape pornography increased a child’s odds of experiencing sexual exploitation by nearly three times. (JAMA, 2020)

• Internet sex predators are manipulating children to record their own sexual abuse and that of their friends and siblings. (IWF Annual Report, 2020)

• 59% of U.S. teens have been bullied or harassed online (Pew Research Center, 2018)?

Marriott International recently announced a global policy, in collaboration with the UK-based Internet Watch Foundation, to combat online child exploitation by using technology solutions to restrict guest network access to websites with child sexual abuse materials (CSAM) in its hotels!

In 2022, NCMEC’s CyberTipline received over 32 million reports containing more than 88 million images/videos and other child sexual exploitation content.

Over the past several years, EIE met with and encouraged Marriott executives to adopt SAFE WIFI policies, which includes filtering CSAM and pornography; now, there is a HARVEST OF VICTORY from the seeds planted!

This is a great step in the right direction! EIE will continue to encourage Marriott -- and every company that offers public WiFi-- to adopt similar policies to filter internet pornography in addition to CSAM.

You can TAKE ACTION NOW!

Encourage your hotel and lodging businesses to follow suit and protect its guests. They will also be protecting the children who are repeatedly exploited each time CSAM is viewed and/or shared, as well as those victimized/trafficked on pornography websites. Click on the Safe WiFi^SM for Hotels & Lodging image for more details!

McDonald's and Starbucks were the first to adopt and implement Safe WiFi^SM policies in the restaurant industry to filter CSAM and pornography. Now it's time for all chains and businesses to get on board with this critical, corporate act of responsibility, and prioritize the prevention of online sexual exploitation!

Click here learn more about EIE's SAFE WIFI initiative.