Is it safe to put pictures of your child(ren) on the internet?

[seasoned]

Originally Posted by Michael Oksa

I wish I could remember the book, but I can tell you why it "seems" the most common ones are cute girls: It's because their picture looks better on the TV news. Seriously. I wish I could cite the source, it was very eye-opening. Also, the book went on to say that it is usually "cute white girls", which is really sad, considering kids of both genders and all backgrounds fall victim to predators.


I think those are reasonable tips, though one more can be added. Role play with your kids and be sure they have a plan for what to do in different situations.

~M~

Well, I HAVE seen black, hispanic, and asian girls kidnapped, or at least missing, ALSO! And you might be right about the news, but still, if they use that method, it figures others would also.

Your role play idea is good, and another some have suggested. But hey, I just tried to come up with some good ideas. I don't have a child and don't have a list of things to handle this stuff written down.

Steve

[Jay Jennings]

Originally Posted by seasoned

OH, people ARE soft on pedophiles! THAT is why Jaycee was kidnapped! They let Garriddo out, didn't properly handle probation, didn't consider him a suspect, didn't properly follow up the lead. I would say that is SOFT!

I'm not saying everything was done right, but from what I've read, Garrido wasn't classed as a pedophile -- he served time for the abduction and rape of an adult.

Sure, I think parents should be cautious, but I see SO many instances of smothering kids in the name of "safety" that it depresses me.

Jay Jennings

[Matt Fulger]

Originally Posted by seasoned

You are right, Garrido apparently just happened by, though he might have cased it for a while. The internet is simply a method that HAS been used. I was just showing one wierdo that was out there and how the police "responded".

And I certainly wasnn't asking ANYONE to live in fear. I am certainly not suggesting even limiting your kids actions. JUST being careful. As it relates to the internet, even just following coppa would go a LONG way. Some POLICE try to look like minors violating coppa to trap pedophiles. So the POLICE know it is being used. I figured YOU should know ALSO!

Steve

Well, I've lost faith in the police long ago. Hell, these days it's hard to
even report a crime w/o being looked at as the criminal. I've personally
witnessed too many innocent people go to prison while the guilty continue
to plague our streets. What makes it worse is the fact that they are
trying to make it illegal to even defend yourself, your family and your
home.

Instead, they expect you to call the police and hope they show up in
time to help. Yeah, right.

In fact, just a couple of years back someone threatened to kill my girlfriend
and her kids. She called the police to report the person and they said to
give them a call when he showed up at the door, gun in hand. They
never even spoke to the man in question (who's an abusive, alcoholic
drug user....all on file with the "system" too).

Fortunately, against the advice of the police, I personally put the fear
into him myself. Who the hell knows what he might have done had I not
personally handled the situation?

Mike,

Just so you know, I'm NOT condemning ALL police, etc. However,
how can anyone have faith in a system that continually lets rapist,
kidnappers, child molestors, etc. out of prison to make room for
pot users? Not even the dealers, the USERS.

Don't try to say it doesn't happen, cuz it does all the time.

When I was in high school I dated a girl who had been raped when
she was 14. They caught the man and locked him up for a whole
2 years. Guess what he did within a week of being released?
That's right. He raped again. The SAME girl.

At that time, they were making room for all the marijuana users
with an early release program for criminals of all types.

Now, I KNOW that there really ARE a lot of cops who truly DO
care and TRY their best to protect and serve. Unfortunately,
the system seems to work against them every step of the way.

Also, why is it that cops are trained to LIE to people during
questioning in order to SCARE a confession out of people?
They don't even seem to care if you are guilty or not, they
just want a confession.

When I was in high school I had this happen to me time and
time again. Of course, it never worked on me but I know plenty
of people who it did work on and were scared into a confession
of a crime they had no clue about.

It's sad if you ask me.

[garyv]

I've been posting photos and videos of my kids online for over a decade. I've even had live video in or around my house for nearly 10 years so that the Grandparents could watch the kids play. Maybe I'm being naive. But in my opinion there's a greater chance of a kid being abducted if he's neglected, or il-prepared to handle a stranger.

My children are never neglected, and they've been taught from the earliest age possible how to handle a stranger. And actually my willingness to put them online may actually make them safer than other kids. For one, it would be practically impossible for a stranger to enter my property without one of my live webcams picking them up. And if by chance on of my kids were taken, their pictures are already plastered on the internet, so it wouldn't take long to get the word out.

[Sylvia Meier]

I agree very much with Gary. I have 5 wonderful little children and their pictures are everywhere, they are on my twitter page with me at times, they are on my personal blog, they are on my facebook, there are little videos of my kids on youtube etc.

And I keep track of my children, my daughter has a cell phone that has an auto 911 button, and has had it since she was 7 years old.

When I go out with my kids they wear harnesses (and I don't care what comments come of that, I have 2 autistic sons who would wonder into traffic if I didn't) the ones that understand know not to go with strangers etc, my children never play outside without an adult, except when it is the older two who are 6 and 11, and then my daughter always has says phone on her. My children have a set route back and fourth from school and they know if they are more than 5 minutes past expected time home Momma's coming looking.

You can be safe or you can be overly paranoid and cause your children to live in fear. I would rather my children grow up not being afraid of their own shadow, but knowing to be careful of those that may lurk in shadows.

Just my 2 cents as a mom to many,
Sylvia

[adam gilbert]

It's up to you but I'd never do it

[HeySal]

It's true there are people that stalk kids via the internet. It's also true that kids are harmed by their own parents at times.

The net is made up of the same people who are your neighbors, co-workers, enemies, etc. You have to be as careful whether you are online or on the street. If you don't use some common sense, you can be vicitimized. You can be victimized going to the store, but have you quit grocery shopping over it? A lot of women are abducted from Mall parking lots. It's the rare woman who quits shopping rather than just adapt some healthy and smart habits while in the parking lot, though.

I worked in a crisis center - rape and molestation. You would think that step-daddies are a bit dangerous? Not as often as real daddies are. Yep - daddies are the leaders in the stats for molesting little kids.
2 out of 5 little girls are molested by the time they are 18. That's one scary figure that nothing else will compare to.

We used to hold classes and educate kids about their own safety. You can't be with someone 24/7. Kids have to know how to help themselves -- and now, that means educated about internet stalkers, too. While it is much less likely they will be abducted by an internet stalker as it is that they will be molested in their own home, it's still a frightening reality. There are psychos all over, if there is a psycho on solid ground, there's going to be a psycho on the net.

I think we need to just understand that the Net is just an extension of society and it's not completely safe any more than any other place is. Look at the murderers who get victims from online dating. We had a serial killer out here that took out over 56 women before he got caught - internet dates. Do we presume to think he'd have never found victims if he hadn't gotten online? I hardly doubt that would have stopped him, maybe slowed him down a tad. And just try sometime to find a college campus that's not crawlin' with psychos. Good luck.

Use common sense but don't go completely schizo over possibilities. You might not want to post your kid's pic with a story about him and his town, but don't get freaky if the kid's pic is posted standing in a group of other kids somewhere. Be realistic.

Another thing you need to remember is that when a child goes missing - the internet can also help FIND that child in time - and it doesn't matter where the pervert came from, online or on pavement.

[Matt Fulger]

Originally Posted by HeySal

I worked in a crisis center - rape and molestation. You would think that step-daddies are a bit dangerous? Not as often as real daddies are. Yep - daddies are the leaders in the stats for molesting little kids.
2 out of 5 little girls are molested by the time they are 18. That's one scary figure that nothing else will compare to.

We used to hold classes and educate kids about their own safety. You can't be with someone 24/7. Kids have to know how to help themselves -- and now, that means educated about internet stalkers, too. While it is much less likely they will be abducted by an internet stalker as it is that they will be molested in their own home, it's still a frightening reality. There are psychos all over, if there is a psycho on solid ground, there's going to be a psycho on the net.

Exactly. Thanks for pointing that out.

My eX was a victim of molestation as a child and while it
wasn't her daddy molesting her, it was her uncle on her
daddies side. No matter how much she cried out for help,
no one would believe her. Her dad simply refused to believe
that his own brother would ever do a thing like that. In fact,
he stayed in denial to the day he died.

She never did get any professional help and has flash backs
to this day. Whenever she drives by one of the places her
uncle used to take her, she freaks out. She also used to
have flash backs of being molested during sex (probably
still does). That's a scary thing to experience.

My point is, the psychos could be your own family members
and you'd never even know it. When brought to your attention,
you are likely to deny it out of hand. No one wants to believe
their own family members could be a psycho, even when told
flat out by friends and/or possibly even your own kids.

[Michael Motley]

I wouldnt do it. Too many weirdos out there with too much time on their hands