We are so excited to be kicking off our new Parent Workshops! Below you will find a few notes/resources I wanted to share from our latest Parent Workshop. This month we were joined by Chief Jim Holler, who was Chief of Police for sixteen years for the Liberty Township Police Department in Adams County, Pennsylvania. Chief Holler is an internationally known speaker specializing in crimes against children and has trained and provided technical assistance to thousands of attorneys, judges, law enforcement professionals, medical, mental health and public health professionals, social workers, and advocates both in the United States and internationally on a range of topics specifically related to crimes against children and social worker safety. Chief Holler is the Executive Director of Firefly, an independent sexual abuse investigative company and has conducted independent sexual abuse investigations for large religious organizations throughout the United States.
Holler Training –Founder/CEO – www.hollertraining.com
FireFly – Independent Sexual Abuse Investigations – Founder/CEO – www.FireflyISAI.com
It can be scary to think about just how easily our children might encounter predators online.
I don’t aim to scare you, but rather equip you with some resources to better prepare yourself and your children. As parents, we must be responsible for monitoring our child’s use of the internet along with taking basic precautions (like giving a “phone bedtime” to our kids) to assure their safety. More often than not, kids are left to their own accord with gaming systems that connect to the internet, cell phones, laptops, tablets etc.
Let’s be clear: predators are counting on this. They take advantage of the fact that most kids online are not monitored by an adult. They are then able to groom them, find out personal information from them, and ultimately, take away their innocence. It is a sadly common crime, one which authorities have seen increase over the years as the average age kids use a cell phone is now 7-8, and the average age for use of internet-connected gaming systems or tablets is even younger.
Even when we think we are staying on top of monitoring our kids and their internet usage; even when we know we have good kids who know what to do and not to do; even when we think our kids are safe – we aren’t always right. Quite simply, kids don’t understand the dangers. They can’t grasp the reality of what could happen when we aren’t cautious online.
Here are a couple websites that Chief Holler suggests for Parents:
missingkids.org
netsmartzkids.org
