FBI's Parents' Guide To Internet Safety

IM Lingo Makes Monitoring Online Chat Hard For Parents

Instant Message Lingo Guide

Teen Behavior & Instant Messaging

How To Monitor Instant Messages

Cyber Safety Links

And the internet is getting bigger.

But that combination is all too often becoming a dangerous one.

One in five children gets unwanted sexual solicitations online.

And girls are targeted at almost twice the rate as boys.

The big issue is that instant messaging is putting an instant danger in your home.

Three years ago an online encounter almost cost a Crafton Heights teenager her life.

Now she's on a mission to help.

16-year-old Alicia Kozakiewicz knows how lucky she is to be alive.

"I think when I watch the news that could be me. I could be that body in that ditch," said Alicia.

On Jan. 1, 2002, when she was just 13, Alicia was abducted by a man she'd met on the internet.

Using her computer, the FBI tracked her to a home in Virginia three days later.

Scott Tyree, 38, was arrested and later convicted of abducting Alicia. Local Girl Abducted After Online Encounter

Alicia said she met Tyree in a chat room a few weeks before her abduction.

She won't talk about what happened to her in Virginia, but she is talking to parents and kids about how to stay safe on the internet.

Alicia said, "I just want to tell kids to be aware. Not to trust anybody."

She says at 13 she was shy and didn't fit in with her peers. But, on the internet she could be someone else, anyone she wanted to be.

"If you create yourself in a computer you can create yourself into whatever you wan. At least that's what you think," said Alicia.

Duquesne professor Dr. Anita LaLumere said, "When they're young teens they are beginning to explore what their identity is going to be they don't know yet so they try different things."

Alicia now warns about chat rooms.

"Don't even chat. If you do chat, talk to people you know from school, that you can actually call on the phone," said Alicia.

She also said to be careful when choosing a screen name.

"If you had something like hot, sexy, chick, whatever, people are going to think that's what you want to talk about."

Alicia's mother was thrilled her daughter was safe, but shocked to find out about her internet activity.

Mary Anne Kozakiewicz said, "I didn't realize all the filth of the world was coming into our home. I didn't have the computer in the bedroom. We addressed the issue. I really thought we were relatively safe. We're not."

Alicia said, "They always warned me about stuff, but kids don't listen."

Mary Anne said, "We are the only line of defense between our child and every pervert in the world. We have deadbolts on our doors on our home. We need to have really strong parental blocks on our computers."