Predator Abductions
Why should the term "stranger abduction" be changed to "predator abduction"?
I've never been particulary comfortable with the designations or the characterizations of family abductions versus stranger abductions. I think what we need to do is re define those terms, and we should be talking about predatory abductions as opposed to non predatory abductions, and by that I mean abductions where the, the childs life is in danger or the child is being taken for some sort of sexual exploitation. Because there are plenty of cases where evil uncle Billy will take the child and, and sexually expoit the child and often times kill the child, and how do you define that then? Obivously uncle Billy is not a stranger and uncle Billy is a family member, so you know once we understand exactly what we're talking about here, I think it's easier then to have that discussion. And also we also have to understand that, what's a stranger? I mean is a stranger, is a stanger somebody that's not in your family, somebody you've never seen before, could it be the pizza delivery guy, could it be the guy that is reclusive that lives right down the street. Is is any number of individuals, so you know I think when we're talking about predatory we're talking about one set of circumstances and when we're talking about non predatory, then we go into a diffrent kind of a mode altogether.
Should I teach my child "stranger danger"?
Stranger Danger is a failed concept. Stranger Danger is from a time when we didn't have good information on child safety. By telling a child not to talk to strangers you are doing certain things. You are creating a hypocritical environment because your child sees you talking to strangers all the time, and that becomes problematic in its own right. You're also limiting your child's choices, and you're giving them a paranoid vision of life that suggests that they shouldn't expand themselves and they shouldn't get out and talk to people. You're also limiting any assistance that they might be able to utilise in a dangerous situation, because the vast majority of people in this country, in this world, are good people and would do anything they can to help a child that finds themselves in danger. What we want to do instead, is we want to substitute good information. We want to tell our child that they should check with mum and dad. We want to tell our child that they should always be with one other person, at least, when they are outside because there is strength in numbers (that's obvious) and that they should trust their feelings. We want to tell them that if something feels wrong they should put distance between themselves and whatever that is, and then again, finally, that if they are endangered and they feel threatened that they could go to strangers to help them out of that difficult situation.
Who is at the greatest risk of a "predator abduction"?
Young girls. Young girls between the ages of six and twelve years old, and there's no doubt about that at all.
What are common patterns of a predator abduction?
The patterns are really simple that an individual who wants to sexually exploit a child will oftentimes number one - put themselves in positions that give them access to that child so there'll be school teachers or there'll be daycare providers or there'll be little league coaches or there'll be paediatricians or there'll be youth ministers, I mean it really becomes rather insidious. Secondly, they then will groom the children and look for certain types of children, children that are indecisive or children that don't seem to have a lot of self esteem or self confidence and then they'll spend a long time trying to gain that child's confidence all with the ultimate plan of getting that child alone some place so that they can ultimately sexually exploit that child. Now very interestingly, NBC's Dateline To Catch a Predator program has given us a great insight into who these individuals are, and the fact that they seem to be working on impulses they have absolutely no ability to control whatsoever. So what we notice is that there is no stereotypical kind of a pattern that these can be any kind of a guy and they tend to be guys going after just post pubescent or pre-pubescent children for purposes of sexual exploitation that's why it's so important to Number one - make sure the kids have good information, Number two - try to prevent the kids from being alone so that they can't be exploited to begin with.
What is a child predator "lure"?
A lure is a device to remove a child from their world or their comfortable environment, for purposes of sexual exploitation. Lures come in many forms. The most obvious lure is the puppy lure. Little boy, little girl, could you come and help me find my puppy? At which point that child is then removed from their environment and is poised for exploitation. There are other more insidious types of lures. Somebody could be driving by in a vehicle, roll down a window and say, "could you come here and give me directions"? Then grab the child into the vehicle as soon as they are lured over. There are other types of lures, such as the fame lure. Oh, you're such a pretty little girl. I'd love to take some pictures of you. Would you mind accompanying me? I could turn you into a famous movie star, is another typical kind of lure. So, lures are only limited by the imagination of the predator, and unfortunately as sick as their imaginations are they often times tend to be very vivid. Which again is why it's important to give kids good knowledge, so they can avoid those types of come-ons?
