Dress Codes and Hair Restrictions are Vital Essay Example For Students

Dress Codes and Hair Restrictions are Vital Essay John Doe walks into a skyscraper, confident and well groomed wearing a tie, suit, and dress shoes. His confidence moves him forward, as he enters an elevator going up to the 23rd floor. He approaches his first job interview since leaving Jesuit Prep: McAllen McAllen Law. This well groomed man graduated from Jesuit prep, which had a dress code and hair restrictions. This dress code and hair restrictions evolved young men into mature adults over a 4 year period at Jesuit. The dress code and hair restrictions play a vital role for our future as they build class integration, increase our image in the community, and dress the students for business, not play. Jesuit Prep needs to continue this vital dress code and hair restrictions for the future. Having a school full of students wearing the same clothes and hairstyles helps build an integration within the class. Students that wear many different styles of clothes all come together wearing similar pants, shirts, ties, and shoes. Through a dress code and hair restrictions, everyone is helped to be made more comfortable by wearing similar clothes, otherwise, people may feel alienated with less trendy or cool clothes. Hairstyles help ease this integration as well by giving each person similar styles making everyone feel more at ease. The overall integration helps the students realize that although people may look similar, the idea that everyone exhibits will be greatly different. These different ideas are present in everyone, and the dress code and hair restrictions help illustrate that just because someone looks the same, they do not think the same. When the students get jobs or find careers in their future, it will be helpful to know that even though all their co-wor s seem similar, they are in actuality very different. This approach to future jobs and careers will give the students an advantage in being open minded with people. The dress code and hair restrictions will help Jesuit students by improving their image they present to the outside community. An image is a very important part of any students life. How others perceive us will impact many future decisions others make. By abiding to a dress code and hair restrictions, our image will come across to others as very clean, organized, and responsible. Future business partners and bosses will always be more trusting with people who fit that image. Within everyones life, there is a time for fun and a time for business. While some people wait until they are well passed high school before they prepare for business, Jesuit is in the forefront preparing students now. This preparation stems from the dress code and hair restrictions which are enforced by Jesuit Prep. When a coat and tie are worn and hair is neatly brushed, a student does not want to get dirty, so they turn businesslike in their manner by learning and acting in a very mature manner. As you can see, the dress code and hair restriction of Jesuit are vital parts of student development. Integration, image, and dressing for success are important benefits of the dress code and hair restrictions. These benefits will be used into each students future to help them move forward within their own career and life. .

Ethics and Public Health Data

Question: Discuss about theEthics and Public Health Data. Answer: Introduction In line with its mandate of providing health care services to the public, the government requires to use its agencies to carry out research and surveillance. This is quite significant because it helps in the collection of data used for detecting disease out breaks, prioritizing, implementing and monitoring public health programs (Thomas, 2014). Nevertheless, the collection of public data, which in many occasions involve private information, should be done in compliance with the national and international regulations. No matter how much important public health data is, its collection, storage, and usage should adhere to the ethical standards. The government agencies have a legal obligation to protect individual privacy and liberty especially for individually-identifiable data (Vayena, Mastroianni Kahn, 2012). The law guarantees each individual to voluntarily participate in a research, have power over the usage of their data and be protected from unnecessary revelation of the same to other unauthorized parties. Although pubic officials entrusted with the collection, storage and usage of the public health data are restricted from violating individual liberties, the law gives them a relief to reveal private information should it be necessary to do so. In such circumstances, it becomes ethically justifiable to disclose individual health information because, by doing so, the authorities are acting for the sake of common good (Thomas, 2014). It can be right if individual privacy is contravened to avail information to be used for achieving a noble public health objective such as monitoring, responding to or identifying a disability, death or disease outbreak in the community. References Thomas, L. (2014) Pandemics of the future: Disease surveillance in real time. Surveillance andSociety. 12: 287200. Vayena, E., Mastroianni, A. Kahn, J. (2012) Ethical issues in health research with novel online sources. Am J Public Health 102: 222530.

Akutagawa essays

Akutagawa essays In all of Akutagawa fs rather dark themed short stories which were assigned, there was clearly a strong emphasis placed on the supernatural. In the conclusion of the first story,  gThe Clown fs Mask h, I got the impression that what initially seemed to be a harmless comic mask could possibly have been haunted and not of this world, and was eerily portrayed as the cause of the main character fs death. In  gThe Immortal h, images of the afterlife found in the Shrine of the Mountain Deity (e.g. the Assistant Prefect, the Little Devil) add to the story fs supernatural theme. However, most of all, the inclusion of the haggard old man who is actually not of this world, and this character fs act of turning the paper into silver and gold coins were rather strong symbols of Akutagawa fs focus on the mystical. In  gRasho Gate h, the man initially respects the corpses found inside the structure and sees the woman as a very evil person for disturbing the dead. It is not until the woman confesses that she must raid the corpses in order to survive that the man decides to rob the woman of her clothes. This greater respect for the dead rather than another human is a rather interesting aspect of the story. Finally, in the story  gWithin a Grove h, it should be mentioned that the account of incident in the grove given by the deceased husband is introduced with the title  gThe tale of the spirit as told through a medium h. As is mentioned in the book fs introduction, Akutagawa fs fascination with the macabre and ghost stories of the Edo Period since his childhood undoubtedly influenced his writing. Other than the assigned readings, the only other work of Akutagawa fs I fve had the chance to read has been  gThe Spider fs Thread h (Kumo no Ito). However, in this story as well, there is substantial emphasis placed on the supernatural. Akutagawa describes the afterlife, and especially hell in rather ghastly detail, even d...

Doves Campaign for Real Beauty Case Study Essays

Doves Campaign for Real Beauty Case Study Essays Doves Campaign for Real Beauty Case Study Essay Doves Campaign for Real Beauty Case Study Essay TABLE of CONTENTS TOPICPAGE Executive Summary1 Problem Statement2 Situation Analysis: Objectives and Goals, Background, Market and External Environment Analysis2 Situation Analysis: Competition Analysis3 Situation Analysis: S. W. O. T. Analysis4 Situation Analysis: Segmentation Analysis5 Situation Analysis: Consumer Analysis6 Key Success Factors and Uncertainties6 Analysis of Alternative Solutions7 Recommendations9 Action Plan and Contingency Plan10 Bibliography11 Executive Summary Kerstin Dunleavy needs to determine how to maintain the Dove brand’s momentum. The key objectives and goals of the Dove product line is to increase market share, develop a strong marketing campaign, retain functional strengths of the brand, maintain the image of the â€Å"Real Beauty† campaign, and staying ahead of competition. Due to the highly competitive industry, marketing communication is critical to ensure campaign momentum. Kerstin must decide how to keep the drive of the initial campaign going. This will be achieved by introducing a new campaign. Through the use of internet, billboards, and media advertising, sincere communication will be achieved by the use of the concept copy thrust. An analysis of how communication messages will reach target market, what the message should communicate, public relation tactics, and sales promotion will take place in order to ensure the objectives and goals of the second phase of the Dove campaign is successful. Case Study: Dove’s Campaign for Real Beauty Problem Statement: Unilever’s Dove beauty product has proven successful of its relaunch and repositioning strategy. Despite this success, Kerstin Dunleavy needs to determine how to maintain the brand’s momentum while staying ahead of the competition and continuing to redefine beauty by maintaining a sense of integrity in society. Kerstin Dunleavy is required to use different advertising, publicity and sales promotion strategies in order to continue onto phase two of the Dove relaunch campaign. Situation Analysis: Objectives and Goals: Initially, Unilever’s objectives and goals of rebranding Dove’s image were to increase market share, develop a strong marketing campaign and retain the functional strengths of the brand. Because of the success from the societal marketing techniques in Dove’s initial campaign, these objectives have expanded to include maintaining the image of â€Å"Real Beauty†, staying ahead of competition and improving communication about Dove’s products in order to increase the sincerity of their advertisements. Background Analysis: Unilever was one of the largest consumer products companies in the world. The company had modified its branding policies in recent years. These modifications have emphasized brand names and a new public image. Unilever have four product lines that are organized into Cooking and eating, Beauty and Style, Healthy Living and Around the House. The Beauty and Style product line had developed Dove in the United States as a non-irritating skin cleaner. An independent study found Dove to be milder than 17 leading soaps and eventually they expanded its product line to included body wash, facial cleansers, moisturizers, deodorants and hair care products. Revenues from this product line reached $3 billion in 2005. Market and External Environmental Analysis: The beauty industry is highly competitive, with well-supported brands, big advertising budgets and a high degree of product similarity. Because of these factors, marketing and communications are crucial to Dove’s success. The development of a strong ethical position has catapulted Dove into a socially sound campaign. In the beauty industry, there is a misconstrued social image of what beauty is all about. This image has had negative effects on women all over the world. Low self-esteem, narrow definition of beauty, and obesity has been the result of advertising campaigns by beauty product companies. The Dove Research Study provided an opportunity for Dunleavy’s team to recreate the beauty image. This recreation has proven to increase Dove’s social responsibility to help women feel good about themselves again. Dove had developed self-confidence work shops for women and girls, which are in line with its objective of maintaining the â€Å"Real Beauty† image. Using women from different ethnic background is also a good strategy for Dove to continue. This strategy welcomes international women differences and Dunleavy’s team gained a competitive advantage by using women of all shapes, sizes and color. Dunleavy’s team used technology in innovative ways to launch the website campaignforrealbeauty. com, online vote casting, chat rooms, electronic billboards and mobile marketing events. The use of technology to market is becoming increasingly popular and Dunleavy should continue to be cutting edge in this category. The website chat rooms will give light to what women want in products and it will also develop a database to help accessing the target market preferred with mass advertising. Since the Unilever Company sells its products internationally, Dunleavy must be aware of many countries advertising legal requirements. This could pose a challenge from the Western Advertising campaign and the Eastern Advertising campaigns. The Internet campaigns with the new Canadian privacy laws may also have different legal restraints that will need to be carefully researched. For example, some chat forums and personal information may need to be protected. The beauty industry has continued to grow. In fact, even in a recession, the beauty industry has flourished and has not been impacted by a decline. With the advances of new technology and ew product awareness, the beauty product industry has been able to deliver products to its customers at reasonable prices. Competition Analysis: Because the beauty industry is highly competitive with similar products, competitors have turned their advertising emphasis from product-related variables to consumer-related variables. This means appealing to the consumer’s emotional psyche and situational influence has become increasingly important. Dove has stepped out of the box and went against its competitors in order to separate themselves and gain a competitive advantage in order to appeal to these emotional psyches. S. W. O. T Analysis: Strengths:  ·Established in 1957, Dove was found to be milder than 17 leading bars of soap.  ·Unilever is one of the largest consumer product companies in the world.  ·The Dove product is a pioneer of its type of product.  ·Unilever has devoted a big advertising budget to rebrand the Dove line and its product image.  ·The first phase of the relaunch of the brand has proven successful.  ·Unilever has quality products and is well positioned.  ·Dove was the first company to redefine the image of beauty; this gives them the competitive advantage. They are now seen as an industry expert with top-quality brands.  ·The creation of the Self-Esteem fund was established and other Not for Profit groups have flourished and women and girls are feeling better about themselves. Weaknesses:  ·Similar product qualities as competitor’s products.  ·Because Dove was the first to redefine beauty, all eyes are on them as a new industry leader.  ·Highly competitive pricing; therefore, leads to small profit margins Opportunities:  ·Redefining Beauty allowed the Dove campaign to distinguish themselves as a quality product and socially responsible company. The new image of what women perceive beauty to be is an opportunity for Dove to develop a strong ethical position and realign ethical and social strategies with their products.  ·Since the campaign, sales have continued to rise, but high product saturation suggests that the industry is in its maturity stage.  ·Technology has allowed the Dove Campaign to reach women internati onally.  ·Free Media coverage by means of journalists, TV shows (Oprah), high profiled debates, and open forums have given Dove free press on their products and their public image. Threats  ·Highly competitive environment. The relaunch campaign could fizzle away and competitors could imitate Dunleavy’s campaign.  ·Since there is a lot of free media coverage, Dove is unable to control this coverage and some negative publicity could be reflected on them. Segmentation Analysis: Segmentation Chart for Dove Beauty Products SegmentYoung WomenMid Aged WomenPrime Time Women Qualifying Dimensions Who? Girls and Women Age16 to 29Women Age 30-39Women Age 40 and older What? Moisturizing creams, tanning enhancer creams, acne creams, cleansers, SPF ProductsMoisturizing creams, cleaners, SPF productsPro-Age wrinkle creams, cleansers, Oils Why? Used to treat different skin problems at different stages of life. Reduce the acne and moisturizeUsed to treat different skin problems at different stages of life. Example reduce the appearance of the start of fine lines and wrinklesUsed to treat different skin problems at different stages of life. Example reduce appearance of wrinkles TrendsGrowingGrowingGrowing Determining dimensions Benefits soughtTo promote a habit of proper cleaning patterns and applying sunscreenTo promote a habit of applying sunscreen and how to prevent early appearance of wrinklesTo reduce the appearance of wrinkles and to properly moisturize Consumer Analysis: Dunleavy’s first phase of the campaign targeted 30 to 39 year old women. This target market is selected because these women have not yet tried skin-firming products. The broader segment is any woman who uses creams, soaps and lotions. In order to convey its message effectively to its target audience, the Dove Research Study revealed that all women want to be beautiful, but was feeling pressure from beauty product advertising to convey to an unrealistic image of beauty. Unilever used this research and insight to have women look at themselves and open a dialogue on what beauty is. Due to this newfound beauty image, consumers have reacted to the Dove product line by switching from competitor’s products. Consumers are becoming loyal and consumer retention is high. This increase in market share gives Dove an opportunity to retain this specific target market in the future. If consumer retention is achieved, then a new target market could be established for women 40 and older. At this age women would start to see the effects of aging and creams geared specifically to this new stage of life could be promoted. See Exhibit 1 for additional information. Key Success Factors and Uncertainties Key Success Factors. The main factors, which are vital to the success of the continued momentum of Dove’s campaign, need to include a sense of integrity in its repositioning strategy, and to complete a value-driven marketing communication strategy, in order to increase the sincerity of their advertisements. Maintaining the image as the â€Å"industry expert† and â€Å"top-quality† brand is also a key success factor. Key Uncertainties. The biggest uncertainty with the phase two of the relaunch of the Dove Campaign is how the competition will react to the campaign and if they follow suit, what Dove can do to stay a step ahead. Analysis of Alternatives Screening Criteria: Three decision criteria will be applied to each of the suggested alternatives to select the best fit for Dunleavy’s phase two of the relaunch campaign. Those criteria are:  ·the alternatives ability to market effectively to the desired target market.  ·the alternatives ability to effectively convey the sense of integrity and positive attributes of what â€Å"Real Beauty† should portray  ·the alternatives ability to remain an industry expert and product quality image Alternatives: Alternative #1 – Develop and present a strong presentation to continue the â€Å"Real Beauty† campaign Pros:  ·Presentation will convey the positive aspects of the current campaign by highlighting key factors of success. The campaign would continue to be used as a promotional tool, which focuses on the ability to reach a mass target market.  ·A strong social and ethical presence is created and brand loyalty and longevity is established. Cons:  ·Since the campaign has proven to be such a success, competitors may follow suite with a similar campaign and Dove may find themselves blending with them. This alternative is considered to be a viable alternative as it meets all of the decision criteria; however since competition is fierce in this industry, it is likely Dove’s competitors will follow suit and Dove would then lose their competitive advantage. Alternative #2 Develop and present a strong presentation to introduce a new campaign, with the continued use of internet, billboards and media advertising. Special attention will be given to the concept of copy thrust, in order to improve the sincerity and communication that is desired with the Dove products. Pros:  ·Presentation will introduce a new campaign, but focus on key objectives and goals sought by Unilever.  ·Keep ahead of the competition by being unpredictable in its marketing campaigns and also by being an industry leader.  ·Campaign could be directed at a new target market, which would increase market share  ·New campaign can use already established media and technology to promote its products and connect with its target market. Cons:  ·A new advertising campaign can be costly. There is a risk that the new campaign will not be successful and will be over shadowed by phase one of the â€Å"Real Beauty† campaign, that is, high expectations to live up too. This alternative is considered to be a viable alternative as it meets all of the decision criteria, it is considered to be a stronger alternative than alternative #1 because it allows Dove to remain an industry expert and stay a step ahead of its competitors. It also allows Dove to control the communication me ssages to its target customers. Evaluation of alternatives. Alternative 1 satisfies some of the evaluation criteria, by continuing to provide good branding image. It will also continue to enforce the new idea of the â€Å"Real Beauty† image. Alternative 2 is the best option, as it will allow Dove to step ahead and create a new target market. Because of the success of the first campaign, Dove is in the public eye and how messages are reaching the target audience is crucial to keeping the momentum alive. Analysis of Alternatives Decision Matrix To determine the best alternative a weighted decision matrix and rating scale is used. For rating the alternatives, 1 is a low rating and 5 is a high rating. Alternatives Evaluation criteriaWeight12 #1-Market effective the desired target market25%34 #2-Convey a sense of integrity25%34 #3–Retain strength of the Dove brand25%44 #4-Ability to remain an industry expert25%35 Weighted Total 100%. 751. 25 Alternative 2 offers the greatest match to the evaluation criteria as it received the highest weighted total in the decision matrix. Recommendation: While both of the alternatives meet the decision criteria and are considered viable alternatives, a choice between the alternatives should be made based on their order of effectiveness from the decision grid. Alternative two offers an introduction to a new target market, improved communication strategies and maintenance of the â€Å"top brand quality† and â€Å"industry expert† image. Dunleavy needs to follow specific advertising, publicity and sales promotion strategies to ensure the new campaign continues the required momentum that Unilever is looking for. The following action plan will explain how to achieve these desired objectives and goals. Action Plan: Short Term (0-6 months): Analysis of the how the communication messages will reach the target market. Dove’s promotion method should be to communicate brand and product information to its potential target market and influence their behaviour and attitudes. Dove has accomplished this successfully by means of mass selling. This method should be continued in the new campaign as it has the ability to reach a large audience at the same time, which proves to be cost effective. The new campaign should focus on institutional advertising, that is, continue to promote the company’s image and reputation. Since Dove is at the maturity stage and brand insistence is increasing, Dunleavy should promote the new product by reminder advertising. Since the new market of women over 40 is being targeted, the Dove Pro-Age product line should be the main product promoted. The development of new billboards, a new product website, and advertising campaigns are communication tools that need to occur. Analysis of copy thrust, that is, what the message should communicate. Dunleavy needs to listen to the research and use the AIDA model to help guide what messages should be on the Billboards, new website and advertisements. Attention – Continue to use real women in advertising and billboards. Holding Interest – the use of women over 40 is a must and their experiences and attitudes must be portrayed in order to set the tone of the ads desired. Arousing Desire – the desire to stay looking young, yet embracing age will be a key requirement in the ads as well. Obtaining Action – is the desired end result that the Dove product is looking for. By using direct-response ads to encourage consumers to research or encouraging Pro-Age instead of Anti-Age may be a technique to spark buying behaviour and it will keep in line with the original â€Å"real beauty† image. Increase Public Relations Continue to work with media to generate positive publicity of growing old gracefully and embracing the prime time stage of life. This type of advertising strategy has work well for dove in the past and it has many benefits. For example, it is free; highly credible with consumers, uninvasive, and the audience is more attentive. Dove will need to ensure the copy thrust of publicity is what it is intending to say. The one draw back of free publicity is that Dove will not be able to totally control what is said; however, they can steer the media into the right direction. Since the current image of Dove associated with media is favorable, this should be a relatively easy task. Sales Promotion A sales promotion should be used to generate and stimulate the new target market. This can be done by customers going onto the new product website, to access free products or coupons. Sales promotion will only last for a short time, but may entice customers to switch from a competitors brand, or try a new product. Longer Term: Once the communication strategies are in place, Dove should continue to support its Not for Profit groups and foundations. By showing this continued support, Dove is showing how committed they are to ensuring confidence in woman is important to them. This will increase brand insistence, consumer loyalty, and company image. Monitoring website traffic, forums, and comments should also continue. This will give Dove insight to creating new products, and learn the new trends in marketing. Contingency Plan: If the new campaign does not flourish the â€Å"Real Beauty† Campaign should continue and new ideas should be generated in order to stay ahead of competition. Dunleavy needs to be consistent in her communications to the public and each message should be carefully analyzed in order to portray the proper image. Bibliography 1. Perreault, William. , McCarthy, Jerome. , Meredith, Lindsay. , Ricker, Lynne. , (2007). Basic Marketing A Global-Managerial Approach 12th Edition. 2. Web site www. doveproage. com 3. Web site www. campaignforrealbeauty. com

The future of Food Supply Chain Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

The future of Food Supply Chain - Essay Example With the concern moving to the scarcity of resources, the world is facing a new challenge of producing more with lesser resources. The food supply chain industry is dominated by features like increasing demands, increasing volatility risks and limitation of resources. Discussion There are various factors that are likely to shape the future of the global food supply chain industry. The factors arising from the suppliers’ side are: increased competition for expenditures by the consumers, major changes in the operating environment, improvement of the quality of the commodities, high differentiation level of food products, cost-effective and flexible modes of logistics. The factors arising from the viewpoint of the customers are nutritional qualities of the food products, health benefits, sensitivity of the customers towards safety and quality of food, ways of production, place of production, environmental and social concerns and welfare of the community. The most important elemen ts for consideration in the designing of the food supply chains are on-shelf availability and cost efficiency for the businesses. But in the light of the emerging environmental concerns other factors like greenhouse gas emissions, energy conservation, increasing traffic congestions and transportation costs are also gaining importance. Challenges The future of global food supply chain focuses on the following critical dimensions: The global food supply chain industry is feeling the necessity of a paradigm shift in the processes as the future of the industry is considered to be highly different from the past trends in the industry. The need for adopting the latest technologies and innovations by the supply chain like the adaptation of the green supply chain is critical to comply with the raising environmental concerns all across the globe. The challenges arising in the global market which will influence operational changes in the major companies involved in the food supply chain indus try. The food supply chain industry has identified the need to implement a new business model to deal with critical issues like taking up new business opportunities and achieving sustainability in the industry. The increasing demand and the scarcity of resources is a major issue faced by the global food supply chain industry (McKinsey & Company 7). The population of the world is increasing in manifolds and so is the necessity to provide food and nutrition to the global population. According to the latest statistics, more than 850 billion people throughout the globe do not have proper access to food commodities and are more sensitive to price increases and nutritional concerns. The global food supplies need a boost by a considerable increase in the production of environmentally sustainable food commodities. But reaching stabilization is difficult due to the complexity of the food supply chains and the various factors diversely affecting its operations. Internal forces driving change The major changes in the food supply chain industry that will influence the changes in the supply chains are the flow of information, consumer behavior and the movement of goods (McKinsey & Company 12). Since these are internal changes occurring within the industry, the industry would have some control over reshaping these factors. Information flow: The proper flow of informatio

Aerodynamics Homework Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Aerodynamics Homework - Essay Example ility develops forces that move it further from its position and neutral stability enables the aircraft to maintain the position without moving forward and backward. Control refers to the effectiveness of displacement of regulating features of an aircraft that determines the rate at which the attitudes and direction of flight can be altered. Aircraft control plays a critical role in other features such as stability and maneuvarabilty since it can easily respond to manipulations. Maneuverability is the ability of an aircraft to change direction and attitude as required. Maneuverability is vital in maintaining the stability of an aircraft. This implies that for an aircraft to maintain stability, it must have the tendency of returning to the straight, upright and level attitude (Skiba, 2002). Maintaining a straight level flight and a suitable stability requires aircraft designers build bodies in different levels of static and dynamic stability. The wings of the Spirit of St. Louis were attached above the weight. Charles Lindberg was impressed with the lateral stability of aircraft because the weight that was low above the wing would act as a pendulum to minimise chances of rolling if one if one wing dropped. This type of stability is positive since it was intended to return the aircraft to its original position in case of a disturbance (Skiba,

The History Of Cyber Predator Media Essay

The History Of Cyber Predator Media Essay It has been said that the internet is to information and social networking as fire was to the caveman (Hudson, 1997, p. 7). The internet is a wealth of information, some of which may be used in research, continuing of education, as a tool to communicate with old friends or discover new acquaintances. For others, its a place to spend time shopping, for some a way to travel to far off places, for a few, a place to express anger and to bully the unsuspecting. For the perverted, its a place to entice and prey on the youngest web surfer and lure them into the deepest, darkest place the net has to offer. The cyber predator lurks on the internet with the most deceitful and cunning intentions, continuously attempting to attract the innocent to satisfy their own perverted sense of pleasure. Cyber Predator The internet has ignited excitement for learning on a global scale. Adults and youth alike surf the internet for the purpose of shopping, social networking and occasionally the thrill of the instant message or chat. A false sense of security combined with the perception of anonymity, with little regard for personal information obscures the dangers that lurk beneath a mesmerizing facade. Online interactions can expose youth to an insidious danger that can expose their safety and literally become a threat to their well being. What is this major threat that can harm the most internet savvy youth of today? With the exponential growth of online social networking, within sites such as MySpace or Facebook, predators lurk with intentions that reach far beyond friendship. Social networking sites are the fastest growing forms of universally accessible communication. The knowledgeable cyber predator already has this figured out. Between the years 2007 and 2009, MySpace evicted 90,000 profiles of convicted sex offenders (ABC 2009). Preceding 2007, 29,000 sex offenders had been identified and removed from the social networking site. These networking sites have become the new playgrounds for our youth. The Predator Who is the cyber predator? Look around at the next PTA meeting, church social gathering, or soccer game. They could be your Priest, Rabbi, doctor or lawyer, family friend or the neighbor next door. The cyber predator does not wear a sign, they are not of any particular age or race, and they rarely announce their intentions. They hide with anonymity. Picture a middle aged man, lonely, maybe a widower, divorced or who has lost the spark in his marriage. While surfing the web, a fantasy develops of a younger woman, looking for an experienced man, someone to show her the way. During one of his trips into cyber space he finds his way into one of the many famous on-line chat rooms, looking for romance in his local area. There he meets an exciting young girl, the one in his fantasy. At this point, its not important what they have in common. They chat for a while and agree to chat again. Over time, he thinks the relationship is developing. He begins to gains her trust. They exchange email addresses and phone numbers and manages to get her home address. Emails are sent, many photos are exchanged and eventually the phone call is made. The meeting is set. But wait, she is not really 18. Was that part of the fantasy? He begins to build her confidence and trust into what she is looking for in an online relationship. She seems so mature at times, yet naive and innocent without many of life experiences. He will show her what she needs to know. He convinces her to meet would be acceptable. Well just meet, talk and get to know each other. The meeting is set. He has bought her a gift. He will buy her dinner and all will be fine once she gets to know him. Its just an innocent meeting, right? Or is this a common method of the predator? Todays scheming predator relies on the internet and support groups to aid in the identification and methods to exploit children (Davis, McShane, Williams, 1995). They often use false profiles to lull parents into a false sense of security about the strangers presence within the family structure (Mahoney and Faulkner, 1997). This false sense of security often aids in the deception of what actually is occurring. They use their knowledge of computer technology as a method to gain the information they are desperately seeking. The expertise and skills they possess is not strictly related to collecting child pornography, downloading and trading of encrypted pornographic photos and movies, or searching peer to peer file sharing sites. This is only part of their pattern of behavior. The crafty predator searches the social networking sites, blogs, online game rooms, surveys and contests for details containing personal information such as; club affiliations, school names, neighborhood friends , parents names, addresses or locations that might be significant in their future search. From there, they begin their search in one of the popular search engines, keying off of a personal name, names of parents or step parents, addresses, friends names or the name and address of a school. They might get lucky and come up with a few personal pictures or additional details to help them extend the search. For the unsuspecting, the details provided in chat profiles can contain a wealth of information. But what does the predator look for? What are the details for that perfect match that will be the enable for him to proceed and get to know his a found friend? The Victim In todays fast paced world, the internet has a way of providing immediate feedback; some of that feedback can be a fun and thrilling challenge. The fast response of the chat can be filled with humor, sarcasm, or trust for developing friendship. For the unsuspecting, it can be a place to share feelings and the frustrations of their young life. More often then not, many kind sympathetic strangers will be willing to lend an ear, offer advice, or just listen to ones problems with their parents. Children are often naive and trusting of others and simultaneously are in need of attention and affection. In the vastness of the cyber world, its easy for a skilled predator to pick up on the signs of loneliness (McKenna Bargh, 2000) and befriend the young and impressionable. With advice and a kind word, they seem compassionate and more understanding than their parents. On the outset, they share the perception of common feelings. As the chat progresses, the skillful predator is looking for someone who seems lonely or maybe detached from their families. The victim now has a new friend, someone who seemingly understands their problems better than their parents do. With the illusion now set and with a little convincing, the problems seem magnified and a secret alliance is now formed. For the young victim, it is not clear they are chatting with a seasoned pro, the online predator. The Method When one thinks of the child predator, the vision of a stranger showing up at the playground with candy and photos of lost puppies comes to mind. This common or traditional method of child victimization, usually involved a target that was in close proximity; sporting events, youth activities or church groups and the resulting abduction was quick and with devastating results. Today, the new playground is a virtual world, and the predator hides in cyber space. In contrast, with past scenarios, the predators of today typically have a large number of attempts and a small number of successes. Their process is slow and gradual, building a trust as they progress towards getting to know their victim. This clever manipulation is commonly referred to as Grooming. Grooming involves a skillful process of manipulation typically initiated through a non sexual approach, designed to entice the victim into a sexual encounter (Brown, 2001). The predators friendship is the initiation into the grooming process. The exploitation is unhurried and measured; without reference to anything sexual, over time this gradual process intensifies. Through ongoing interactions, online conversations, gifts, and phone calls the child begins to lower their inhibitions and no longer perceives the predator to be an outsider. This close bond is the enabler that creates a victim more likely to comply with sexual advances. After months of this online relationship, the childs def ense mechanism is gone and the predator is now viewed as a peer. Todays youth is exposed to pornography in many different ways. Accidental exposure may result from a mistyped word in search engine or spam emails. Others may seek pornography on-line or freely share provocative pictures of themselves to friends and peers. This exposure, accidental or not, has desensitized the youth of today to pornography. All forms of youth exposure pornography have aided the methodical predator in his online quest for sexual solicitation. Gradually, the predator exposes the child to more pornography and begins the acceptance process of the child to nudity. Over time, he gradually suggests the child photograph themselves in sexually provocative poses, then pass along the photos, convincing them that this will help validate the relationship. The predator may send child pornography, hoping to stimulate curiosity and convince the child that sexual relationships with adults is accepted and widely practiced. Once again, building on the relationship, the predator knows, the closer the bond, the more likely the victim will be to comply with sexual advances. Once the stage is set, it is easy for the confident predator to arrange and establish the face to face meeting. The unassuming victim, over time, may have learned to trust the predator more than their own parents and nothing will stop them. The predator, having convinced the victim they live locally, may travel great distances to facilitate the meeting. As seen in the popular television series, To Catch A Predator (Dateline NBC) many predators are caught up in the moment and do not see anything wrong with their intentions. Others know exactly what they are doing and will go to great lengths to preserve the relationship to satisfy their perverse behavior. Summary A year long survey conducted in 2001 of 129 internet-initiated sex crimes involving victims age 17 or younger, found face-to-face meetings had occurred in 74 percent of the cases. Ninety three percent of those encounters included sexual contact. Seventy-five percent of the victims were girls. A large number of the victims report they had willingly met and had sexual encounters with the predator (Lewis, Miller, Buchalter, M. P. AR. 2009). Researchers have concluded the increase in online child exploitation can be directly linked to increased internet accessibility and anonymity as well as the commercialization of exploitive material and the production and dissemination of digital imagery. By 2005, ninety one percent of all children had access to the internet (Whitaker, Bushman, 2009) and sixty six percent stated they had no parental supervision while using the internet. The first line of defense in preventing children from becoming victims of online predators must be the parents and primary caregivers. A communicative parent-child relationship, appropriate sexual education and parental participation in child internet activities are critical factors in preventing children from falling victim to the online predator.