About a year ago, a man was spotted in our area sitting on the side of the road watching a little boy playing in his yard. Although there was no interaction, a neighbor thought the behavior was odd and called the police. They ran the story on the news and gave a detailed description of the man and his car. A week later he was spotted in my own neighborhood doing the same thing!
We decided that because we had so much specific information we needed to sit the girls down and explain why we were concerned about this man. We also talked about his physical appearance and car description. For several weeks they would yell "there he is" whenever a silver car went by. It became a little comical but I was glad they were staying vigilant.
Still, a piece of me was so mad that we even had to have the conversation with a 3 & 5 year old. How unfair that, because of his lack of self-control, the girls we no longer allowed to play in their own yard unless an adult was present. How unfair that we had to role play what they should do if someone approached them. I felt violated. Frustrated. Exposed. I felt that a huge chunk of their innocence had been stripped.
I know, I know. That's today's world and they need to be aware of the dangers that lurk. It was inevitable. I know. Still...very sad.
We went online to try and research the new sexual predator registries but never found a site that gave us the information we wanted. Well, just today a friend emailed me this link for the Family Watchdog. When you visit this site you can enter your address and a map will pop up with your house as the small icon of a house and red, blue, green, dots surrounding your entire neighborhood. You can also just put in your town and zip code.
When you click on these dots a picture of a person will appear with an address and the description of the crime he or she had committed.
The best thing is that you can show your children pictures (some of these guys look harmless!) and see how close these people live to your home or school. This site was developed by John Walsh from America's Most Wanted.
It's just another tool to help us keep our kids safe. And like the site says, "Awareness is your best Defense."
Posts
1 comment:
Natalie -- I know how you feel! Thanks for posting the Family Watchdog site. I hope it helps other families as well. You can never be too careful with your children's safety. Beth M.
Post a Comment