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I believe that God desires for us to live our life in full: full of love, hope, grace, truth, intention, laughter, and freedom like we have never experienced before. Each episode is a conversation pointing you towards this life.

Nov 9, 2018

Jennifer Langley shared a story of a child predator incident that she witnessed right in front of her face, and after hearing her story, I knew that we had to get this word out to parents and caregivers of children as soon as possible. We want to make sure that our children are as safe as possible, and someone needs to hear this message. So,  what Jennifer was witnessing was the perpetrator “befriending” the children there (mostly girls I might add) so that they would no longer be strangers; that they would see him as a familiar face in order for the little girls to feel more comfortable around him. He was also “showing off” for the parents as well. He was showing them how much he “loves” little children (yeah, I bet he does) and “grooming” them to the point to where they feel that he is a safe adult for them and probably thinking, “Wow! He’s really great with kids!” This way, they inch their way in little by little; seeing how far they can go, getting the child more and more comfortable with them until it’s gone too far.

I did a little research on how to keep our children safe from child predators, I found that one Psychologist says, in an article written for the NY Times, (https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/14/opinion/the-wrong-way-to-keep-kids-safe-from-predators.html), she’s “noticed that most parents...believe children are safe only when they are in the care of [familiar] adults...but as a psychologist with an expertise in child abuse, I can tell you this theory is hogwash. It’s exceedingly rare for a child to be taken by a stranger, and in around 90 percent of sexual abuse cases, the perpetrator is someone the kid already knows.”

A writer for Psychology Today had this to say about child predators, “Most often, that someone is either a family member or an acquaintance, such as a coach, counselor, priest or teacher. So ironically, when we put our kids into educational programs and organized sports to keep them safe, we may actually be putting them in more danger than if they were just playing outside with their friends.” 

This is an episode that every parent or child caregiver needs to hear. So, grab a notebook because you're gonna want to write some of this stuff down.

For show links and show notes, visit our website at teaoflifepodcast.com.