It’s Up to Parents (Part 2)

Confronting the Crisis in our Neighborhoods: A Call to Action

By Gina Loudon

Last month, I outlined some of the problems facing parents as we seek to combat the influence of child pornography in our culture and the danger of online predators to our children.

(1) There are 22,000 IP addresses actively trading hard core pornography in our state.

(2) The most common place for a child to view porn today is not the computer—it is the cell phone. iPods and hand-held games are common as well.

(3) The “offended” today will become the “offenders” in a matter of months or years if not effectively treated.

The urgency of this issue cannot be understated as the incidences of ‘ordinary people’ being found out to be child predators continues to increase. Since the publication of last month’s MetroVoice, another child predator was arrested by detectives hired through the grant program established by my husband, Senator John Loudon. This time it was a pediatric dentist in Maryland Heights, MO, who had arranged online to meet up with a 14 year old girl! As sobering and eye-opening as that is, it seems to underscore the utmost importance of the need for parents to become educated, involved, and active in fighting this cause on behalf of our children. I’d like to offer an initial look at three steps we must take as parents and as a community to fight this growing epidemic.

Step One

Education. This is a big obstacle for those of us who did not grow up with computers or advanced technology like our children use in everyday life. However, the necessity of parents knowing basic technology is paramount if we wish to adequately protect our children from pornography and predators. If you are like me and need education about modern technology and the internet, a good starting point is www.enough.org, which is a non-profit website dedicated to helping parents make the internet safer for their children and to confront the dangers of online child predation.

Step Two

Involvement. This may seem obvious or over-simplified, but if we are not involved in every aspect of our children’s lives then we will not know nor will we be prepared when our children are in danger. This includes not only putting the appropriate safeguards on the family computer, but also being aware of what websites your child is visiting even if you already use a computer filtering program. Internet traffickers have become very skilled at making their websites not detectable by certain internet filters. There are many websites that provide this service, but the one my family and I use is www.covenanteyes.com, which filters internet use and also emails an accountability report of all websites visited by a user to a designated accountability partner.

Along with involvement in your children’s internet use is knowing who they spend time with and the standards in place at the homes of their friends. I have heard countless stories from parents about how their child was exposed to pornography at a friend’s house. Also, camera phones have been used to take photos of friends in various stages of undress at sleepovers and forwarded to classmates who then publish these photos on the internet. When this occurs, the owner of the phone, usually the parents, can be charged with the distribution of child porn. Involvement may be the most crucial component in protecting our children. If we don’t know what they are getting into, we will never be able to protect them.

Step Three

Community Action. Forming an alliance with detectives, law enforcement, teachers, and parents gives strength in numbers so that we can work together to effect change. Protecting our children begins in the home, but there are also measures we can take to insure legislation moves forward once it has been proposed.

My husband worked to establish the grant program that has taken our state to the forefront in the fight against child pornography and predators. His program has led to the arrest of hundreds of predators to date, including the 54th arrest this year in Maryland Heights. My goal is to unite those concerned and form a citizens’ coalition so that we have muscle behind the necessary legislation in the coming years.

Some of the questions we will work to answer are:

(1) How can we be helpful to law enforcement in creating programs to stop child pornography and predators?

(2) Can we find a permanent funding source for the Cyber Crimes Grant Program? (John’s program only continues for the next two years.)

(3) What is the most effective means for protecting our families?

(4) Is it possible to establish a help line for those “offenders” that are trying to recover?

(5) What legislation can we propose to curb this problem effectively?

(6) What role, if any, can cell phone and internet providers play?

Attend July 22nd Meeting

Join me in taking a critical first step as a community in standing up to this problem by attending a Citizens’ Alert, Child Pornography and Cyber Predators: Combating the Crisis in Our Neighborhoods, on July 22nd at 7 p.m. at Parkway Northeast Middle School. We will have several speakers and a panel of area police chiefs, community leaders, detectives, and law enforcement officials who will bring us all up to speed on the issues facing the community and what we can do in the interim to help stop this tragic trend. Representatives from Inobtr.org, The National Coalition for the Protection of Children and Families, and iCare will be present. I urge you to join our fight against child pornography and predators.

For more information, contact our event coordinator Ashley Flynn at ashleymflynn@gmail.com or Gina Loudon at (314) 625-6756.