Sexual predators, part 1
Yesterday I assessed a patient who told me he sexually molested his daughter when she was a teenager. Coming face to face with such an individual led me to think about ways we can protect our children from sexual predators. I am going to use the term sexual predator here instead of sex offender because I think that more accurately describes their actions.
Sexual predators have been in the news lately, especially since the recent death of 9-year old Dylan Groene and the abduction of his sister Shasta. This happened at the hands of someone who had an outstanding warrant for failing to register as a high-risk sex offender. So not only did they release this guy on bail for molesting a 6-year-old boy in Minnesota but they had no way of tracking him when he did.
You don’t have to be a psychologist like myself to know that there is no effective treatment for sexual predators. Although there may be a handful of rare exceptions, for the most part they will repeat again. So how do we protect our children?
The most practical thing to do is to talk to them and let them know that there are some very bad people in this world who like to do bad things to children. Although this may scare the child, that’s partly the point. Granted, you don’t want the child to live in fear all day, but you need to instill some degree of fear so they are cautious, alert, and think twice when a guy pulls up to them on their way home from school and asks them if they want to come for a ride to get some candy or play video games.
The second thing to do is emphasize to children that although strangers should be avoided, people they already knows cannot be trusted 100%. Sadly, this includes priests, neighbors, teachers, and even family members. Many sexual predators know their victims before the crime is committed and use a superficial relationship to gain access to them.
Third, monitor your child’s computer activity. There are many sexual predators that use on-line chat-rooms to lure children to a desired meeting place where a sexual crime is committed. The popular website, Yahoo just got rid of all of its chat rooms for this very reason. Check out the popular program, Spy Buddy to monitor your children’s activity. I do not receive any money from promoting this product..
Another thing to do is to find your state’s “sexual offender” homepage to find pictures and addresses of sexual predators in your area. For example, if you live in New York, like I do, go here: NY Sex Offender Registry. Now, in my opinion, a big mistake people make is they type in their zip code, see that there are sex predators in their area, maybe print out the address and name, and leave it that. I would take it a step further and show the picture of the sexual predator to your child so they know to stay away from that person. You should also show your child where this person lives so they know to stay away from that area.
Please share your tips on the blog and come back tomorrow when I will discuss a few ideas I have for legally dealing with child sex predators. Click here for the next post
Sexual predators have been in the news lately, especially since the recent death of 9-year old Dylan Groene and the abduction of his sister Shasta. This happened at the hands of someone who had an outstanding warrant for failing to register as a high-risk sex offender. So not only did they release this guy on bail for molesting a 6-year-old boy in Minnesota but they had no way of tracking him when he did.
You don’t have to be a psychologist like myself to know that there is no effective treatment for sexual predators. Although there may be a handful of rare exceptions, for the most part they will repeat again. So how do we protect our children?
The most practical thing to do is to talk to them and let them know that there are some very bad people in this world who like to do bad things to children. Although this may scare the child, that’s partly the point. Granted, you don’t want the child to live in fear all day, but you need to instill some degree of fear so they are cautious, alert, and think twice when a guy pulls up to them on their way home from school and asks them if they want to come for a ride to get some candy or play video games.
The second thing to do is emphasize to children that although strangers should be avoided, people they already knows cannot be trusted 100%. Sadly, this includes priests, neighbors, teachers, and even family members. Many sexual predators know their victims before the crime is committed and use a superficial relationship to gain access to them.
Third, monitor your child’s computer activity. There are many sexual predators that use on-line chat-rooms to lure children to a desired meeting place where a sexual crime is committed. The popular website, Yahoo just got rid of all of its chat rooms for this very reason. Check out the popular program, Spy Buddy to monitor your children’s activity. I do not receive any money from promoting this product..
Another thing to do is to find your state’s “sexual offender” homepage to find pictures and addresses of sexual predators in your area. For example, if you live in New York, like I do, go here: NY Sex Offender Registry. Now, in my opinion, a big mistake people make is they type in their zip code, see that there are sex predators in their area, maybe print out the address and name, and leave it that. I would take it a step further and show the picture of the sexual predator to your child so they know to stay away from that person. You should also show your child where this person lives so they know to stay away from that area.
Please share your tips on the blog and come back tomorrow when I will discuss a few ideas I have for legally dealing with child sex predators. Click here for the next post
posted by MedFriendly | 7:20 PM
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