In today's world gaining access to a child, your child, is easy. All it takes is knowing the lingo and which sites to create a profile on and BAM! It's like a buffet for predators. And the prey? The prey is easy to find.
Predators don't care that the child they are preying on is your child. They don't care that the photo's and text they are sending and convincing said child to send back are causing hurt to that child. All they want is easy access with virtually no way to track them. These predators are coming into our homes via technology. They groom children with out ever touching them. They 'test' the waters by sending sexually explicate photo's. They build this secret life or relationship and eventually they ask for a meet up. The world they created for a child on the tablet collides with a very harsh reality. The scariest part is that it is a secret. We as the guardians usually have no idea.
Protecting children should be something that we all, as adults, strive to do. Protecting a child who is using a tablet, computer, smart phone, xbox, social media ... is just as important as ensuring the babysitter, clergy, teacher... is trustworthy enough to be around your children.
One of the biggest ways of doing that is being apart of their lives. Know what social media sites they're using and who they are talking to and what is being said. Ensure that your child knows to never share personal information with any one they do not know. Establish ground rules about what sites they are and are not allowed to visit. Parental controls and safety features on phones and computers were created for a reason. Explain to them how quickly things can spread online. Once a photo is out there, it's there for always. We cannot always be sitting right next to our children. It is our job to ensure that they are educated and know that no matter what we love them. To build that relationship that ensures that if something were to ever happen on their screens that they can always come to us or another trusted adult.
The internet is an amazing tool but, it can also be a thing of nightmares.
For more information on how to prevent online sexual abuse, click here.