The arrest of a Columbus man earlier this month on charges of using a computer to lure a child for sexual purposes should serve as a reminder that child predators are in every community.
It is a disturbing thought, one that should strengthen our resolve to do what we can to keep our children safe.
The grim truth is that there is no single solution, no button to push, no measure to take that can eliminate this danger. There remain only precautions.
Parents, grandparents, teachers — anyone for whom a child entrusts his or her safety — must confront this threat and take actions that will greatly reduce, if not eliminate, them.
Today’s children are exposed to strangers like no other generation, primarily because of the explosion of social media. That danger can be overstated — the vast majority of sexual assault against children is committed by people the child knows — but it should not be dismissed.
There are some common sense precautions that parents can take — insisting that children share their passwords for social media accounts, setting some boundaries on who can access a child’s social media through privacy settings and insisting that they have access to their child’s account for monitoring purposes.
Those are good steps, but hardly fool-proof. When it comes to social media, a teenager is often the expert, the mom or dad the novice. In every generation, teens are often curious about adult things — including sex. They are eager to exert their independence and over-confident about their ability to handle the situations they confront.
Predators understand this. Parents should, too.
It is all the more reason that parents must talk to their children honestly about sex and relationships and the dangers they may encounter. Children are generally more trusting than adults. Their life experiences have not prepared them to see the red flags that adults see immediately.
Predators of all sorts share a common strategy: They seek out the most vulnerable of the population.
A parent who know his or her child best and can talk with them about even intimate, personal topics has done much to safe-guard that child.
By contrast, a child who is isolated and who has no adult they confide in, is a prime target for tragedy.
We urge all who are entrusted with the care of our children to take every precaution to ensure their safety when it comes to the Internet and social media.
That includes taking the responsibility of being involved and engaged in their lives of our children.
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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