Writen by Rhonda Goetz
Parents love to talk about their kids. They do this in many ways. From those Christmas letters we've all come to hate to the "family" stickers on the backs of mini-vans. We love our kids!
Would a parent knowingly put their child at risk? No way! But unknowingly, many parents are putting them in harm's way. A parent's love and desire to show off their kids are in essence increasing the chance that one or more of their children may end up the victim of a child molester, abductor and/or stalker.
How can that be?
Well, let's look at the Martinique family. Mom is the proud parent of three children. She loves her kids and wants the best for them. One of her jobs is to insure that the kids get to and from school, sporting events, and school activities. Her mini-van is always on the go.
Today, she picks up the kids from soccer practice and is stopping at the store to pick up food for dinner.
Unknown to her, someone is watching…
Mom loves her kids so much she wants everyone to know it. She puts stickers on the back of the van showing each child, their relative ages (based on size) and their names. Mara is the oldest, next is Manda, the littlest is Jimmy and they have a dog named Max. She also displays her "Proud Parent of an Honor Student at JJ Elementary" bumper sticker.
Unknown to her, she just provided valuable personal information to a predator. Her children's names, their relative ages, their pet's name and which school Jimmy attends.
She stops at the grocery store, picks up a few things for dinner and then heads for home.
Unknown to her, someone is following her home.
When she arrives, everyone jumps out of the van and rushes inside for dinner. Safe inside…
Unknown to her, a predator waits in a car on her street waiting for one of the children, Mara, Manda, or Jimmy to come outside to play or walk to their friend's house.
Unknown to mom and the kids, pedophiles seek to find some way to know your child before victimizing them. Knowing a child's name, what their house looks like or their pet's name gives them the "in" to get close to your child.
When Jimmy comes out to play basketball, the pedophile gets out of his car and walks up and says Hi Jimmy! Jimmy is disarmed by the pedophile's use of his name so he doesn't react negatively to this stranger. "I lost my dog, he looks just like your dog, Max, have you seen him?" Using his dog's name completely brings down Jimmy's defenses. Knowing this, the predator moves in closer to Jimmy, close enough to grab him.
Unknown to mom, her love for Jimmy put him in jeopardy.
Don't risk your child's safety by allowing a pedophile to create the illusion of familiarity. If your child can be identified by a stranger, your child is at risk. Remove all identifying marks and objects from your cars now.
Rhonda Goetz Parent Smartz Empowering Parents... 866.241.9927
Rhonda Goetz is an author, speaker and and instructional designer. She designs easy-to-use online courses to help parents learn how to monitor their child's activities, improve their Internet literacy, and better understand the Internet perils their child deals with every day.
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