Parents: should someone visit your childs school to talk about Online Predators?

Question

I dont like to call myself a 'victim" of an online predator because I take responsibility for my actions, but that is still what i'm classified as. I have been working on starting a campaign about Internet awareness and online predators. I would like to hear what you would think if someone went to your local school to tell their story about what happened to them when they met an online predator and gave some statistics and tried to promote safer online activity by the younger children in your community. Young children become "victims" of online predators on a daily basis. Myself and the people I'm working with to start my campaign believe that its something that needs to be taken care of, its something that needs to be addressed and it may not be pretty but its a disgusting fact of life that there are people like that out there that Young teens need to be aware of. So again, I would like to know what you would think if someone went to your local school to tell their story?

Answer 1

Things like this need to be taught by parents, not teachers. That's the problem with the vast majority of people today. They expect other people to raise their children and are more than happy to blame "public education" or "liberal educators" when something goes awry. If parents would "pay attention" to their children, including what their children do online, this wouldn't be as big of a problem. But a lot of parents are either too busy or too lazy to put in the work to properly raise a child.

I guess the best answer would be "yes", but, at the very least, the points brought up should be discussed at home, too. Open communication at home at a young age leads to more open communication during the teenage years, when adolescents are most vulnerable.

Answer 2

This is a wonderful idea young lady but our POLITICIANS have already dumped so many things on our school system that "MUST BE DONE" that many of the schools will not take the time to add anything else to their already full schedule. This is a just cause and I believe that what you are doing is WONDERFUL! Begin by contacting the guidance counselors at smaller schools. They seem to care about their young people more than anyone else in their respective communities. If you are a Christian, PRAY ABOUT IT! Contact anylocal youth group like the YMCA. Many times they will assist you in getting the word out. You might also see if it is possible to get a local donated building to speak in to parents, students, and interested citizens of the community. GET THEM INVOLVED in this CAUSE! I wish you are successful in this endeavor. Have a great week!
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Answer 3

I think it's always a good idea to have REAL people tell their story. it's always easyfor people to say "be careful" but it actually has an impact when kids can meet someone who it really happened to. With childrens internet use on the rise, i think it's a good idea to have as many people as possible warning them and teaching them safe ways to use the internet. And I think if you went and talked to school administrators about doing a presentation you would not be turned away!!!

Answer 4

I think it is a good idea some kids do not take the parents seriously thinking they are just being over protective but maybe a strangers Story would open their eyes to the dangers online

Answer 5

um, i guess. i mean, you're living proof that this happens. personally, i would like to find out how this happens so much. are these predators really this "smooth-talking" or are the kids this happens to just looking for something? if so, what is that? how does someone fall for this? where are parents throughout all of this? see, that's where i'm going with this, i guess. if you're going to speak about it, i would appreciate some kind of venue that parents and really the entire community can attend, not just my kids in school.

Answer 6

wouldn't bother me any... I think kids do need to be educated and sometimes parents don't have the time or don't think it can happen to their child... it's the same as sex ed, don't talk to strangers, drugs, and all the other programs they have come out with in schools for children... I think it's a good idea.. parents still need to take responsibility but I think the more places they get taught the better

Answer 7

I would like to congratulate you on your idea for civic duty. Yes, I do think that if you have an experience to share that may help others, you should definitively share it.
If I were you, I would talk to the school officials, relate in detail what you will be addressing, and ask for suggestions/feedback on what is appropriate according to school guidelines. Depending upon the age of your audience, school personnel will advise on the tone and detail.
I do think my 10 year old kid would benefit.
Good luck!!!

Answer 8

its great idea. its a sad fact that a lot of parents are not involved in their kids lives enough to care what is going on in their online lives, and children/teenager think they are too smart to fall for some of this stuff when unfortunately, just reading yahoo answers, proves there are a lot of clueless kids out there.sadly as much as we want to protect our kids from the ugly side of life, it comes into our homes now everyday and we have to address it and protect our kids against the creeps. thank you for caring, hope it is a roaring success.

Answer 9

I absolutely think that you are right. My son is 13 and I like to think that I am pretty diligent about monitoring his computer usage. I have talked to him about this. I frequently go through his IM buddy list and edit as I feel is necessary. But all it takes is once. And there are many parents who dont monitor or dont know the first thing about computers etc to effectively "police" activities. I think that your type of forum should be mandatory not only for the students but parents as well. I have checked MySpace accounts of kids my son knows and I think their parents would be mortified to know what goes on. (MySpace is NOT allowed in my house) But there sites/services like Tagged and my son had 100+ people on his messenger list that he didnt know. And with screen names like sweetcandy69 etc you know that there are people looking for trouble. Needless to say all of them have been deleted and there is no correspondence allowed from tagged on his email accounts. But how many people just dont know?? I am very sorry for whatever happened to you. But you can take your experience and save who knows how many other kids with your story. I would support such a program at our school.

Answer 10

Go for it. Real life stories always help, and there are always kids in classes that are chatting up a storm with one person or another on the net and being asked to meet.