Child Safety in a Dangerous World
The daily horror stories in the news make us cringe: sordid tales of child molesters, kidnapping and Internet predators. We breathe a sigh of relief that it's not our child who has become the next victim.
Sadly, though, statistics show that one in three girls and one in four boys are molested before they reach the age of 18.1 And the real numbers are probably higher, since boys are less likely to report incidents of sexual abuse than girls are.
Even worse, we don't know where the criminals are. According to Ernie Allen, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, "There are 400,000 registered sex offenders in the United States, and an estimated 80 to 100,000 of them are missing. They're supposed to be registered, but we don't know where they are, and we don't know where they're living."2
In these troubling times, a vigilant parent needs to think about child safety from all angles:
Are child molestors near your home targeting your child? How well do you know your neighbors? Is it possible that one of them is a sex offender? The fact is that about half of all convicted child-sex offenders had a prior relationship with the victim, while only one in seven convicts victimized a stranger. You therefore need to use strong child safety habits around the clock:
- Know where your kids are at all times. Don't let them play unsupervised in a public area — including around your neighborhood or even your front yard, for that matter — for even a second. A sex offender often needs just a small window of opportunity to lure children away from sight and kipnap them.
- Don't drop your kids off without supervision in places where kids congregate, like the mall, outdoor parks, school playgrounds or video arcades. Child molesters know where kids like to hang out; molesters tend to flock to those places too.
- Make sure your children know that there are certain things adults should never be allowed to do. Explain to them that they have the right not to be touched inappropriately by anyone, and give them instructions on what to do in risky situations. (Screaming for help and finding a nearby police officer or other authority figure top the list of such tips.)
Are predators lurking near your child's school? When your child is playing at recess, is a sex offender who lives nearby watching and plotting? Do pedophiles live near the places your child goes after school? Family Safety Report lets you monitor multiple addresses — and receive e-mail alerts when a sex criminal moves near any of those addresses.
Do you know what your child does online? Child Internet safety presents a particularly troubling challenge for parents. Online predators are a continuous source of danger for children. Child molesters working anonymously take advantage of the way kids use the Internet to communicate with each other, luring them into offline meetings that sometimes end in kidnapping ... or worse.
As many as 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 4 boys will be sexually abused at some point in their childhood. Education and awareness are crucial when it comes to child protection.
The good news is that real knowledge is just a click away: With Family Safety Report , you don't have to wonder or guess. If a registered sex offender is living in your neighborhood, you'll know about it ... and you'll be able to take the appropriate steps to protect your child and your family.
Get your FREE Family Safety Report today. Because where your child's safety is concerned, guessing and hoping are not options.