minor children Archives - Mother 2 Mother Blog

Area Teacher Arrested for Soliciting A Minor

January 8, 2012 by Rhonda Gales

Do you know who’s interacting with your child on-line? I received a post from one of my friends on Facebook where an area teacher this week was arrested for soliciting a minor for sex, 13 year old, on-line. This sh** just makes my blood boil. We simply can not trust our children on-line, in school, in sports or anywhere these days. It’s so sad, but the reality of the world in which we live.

The cover-up at Penn State was enough to make me cry, people just turning their heads and looking the other way while someone is abusing a child. How do you sleep at night? How do you get up in the morning, dress, go to work and look at someone who you know is abusing children and you do nothing. Now it’s happening in my own backyard. Predators! People who we believe we can trust as role models for our children taking advantage of them. The teacher in my area was a fourth grade teacher at an Intermediate School about a mile from me, and had been recently named as the assistant boy’s basketball coach at another Middle School in the areal. I wonder what we could have expected there, another Jerry Sandusky?

We as parents must see danger when it comes to our children, and our children must understand the danger of on-line predators as well as those that they will encounter in their childhood. If you’re like me, you’re probably wondering what you should do to keep your child safe on-line. Here’s a few tips:

Talk to your child about on-line sexual predators. They’ll probably try to convince you that they’re okay and know what’s going on, but stand firm.
Improve your computer skills. and controll what your child accesses on-line. There is parental control software on the market, download it on your family computer. We were all children at some point, so we understand privacy, but this is your child’s life and we must protect them at all costs.
Make sure you can view your child and the screen on the computer when they’re on-line.
Know what sites they’re visiting, and enforce rules.
Looks for gifts, money or other items that where not provided by you or grand parents.
Limit the amount of time your child spends on the computer if they are not doing homework or playing games.
Check for sexual communication, images etc.
Limit the number of hours your teen/child is home alone.

What do predators look for when in search of prey:

Most find our children in chat rooms, through instant messages, email or social networking sites.
They befriend and win children’s affection with gifts, being kind and giving them attention. They are astute at knowing who to solicit.

Unfortunately, we can’t protect our children around the clock. Make these stories a part of your dinner conversation, so your child can understand how real predators are and if they aren’t cautious they too can become prey.

Kids Put On Wrong Flight by Delta

Would you allow your child too travel alone to visit a relative? Until I read the article today about Delta airlines placing two children on the wrong flight, I may have considered it. The Unaccompanied Minor Program is used by many airlines for children between the ages of 5 – 14 who need to travel without an adult. The airline is paid to take on the responsibility of the child until they reach their destination. The person who brings the child to the airport must show identification, and the person who is at the final destination must show identification before the child is released. They airline is suppose to ensure the child gets on the correct flight, feed them, make sure they make connections and turn them over to the right person for a hefty price.

It seems Delta Airlines needs some work on their program. Somehow they mixed up the paperwork for the children and placed them on the wrong connecting flights. How the hell is this possible? This is what you’re getting paid to do. My big question is, how do you mix up the paper work of a boy and girl? Did anyone ask them their name or put some kind of identification on them? Did anyone bother to check their identification? Obviously not. The little boy realized the mistake, he knew he was suppose to be in Boston and not Cleveland. Kids are so smart.

Can you imagine the grandparent’s or whatever adult that was on the other end’s fear. I would have been beside myself. Delta is conducting an investigation, and they are assuring parents across the country that the children were supervised at all times. Idiots! Delta has also stated that they issued refunds for the children and gave the families free tickets for a future trip. I may have accepted the tickets, but my child would never travel alone on that airline again. It’s doubtful that they would ever travel alone again.

To be honest, I’ve had a positive attitude toward this program in the past. I have witnessed children under the Unaccompanied Minor program in my travels, and they have been well taken care of by the airline. These type of incidents are suppose to be rare, but when they happen it causes you to become fearful and a little more protective of your child.

I may change my mind in the future, but tonight my little sweetie pie will get squeezed a little harder, and he will definitely receive extra hugs and kisses. What your thoughts on this incident? Leave us a comment.