Recently the U.S. Department of Homeland Security has been receiving quite a bit of attention – but probably not for what you think.
Deputy Press Secretary, Brian Doyle was arrested Tuesday for using the Internet to seduce what he assumed was a teenage girl, according to CNN’s Web site.
Doyle sent the girl – who was really an undercover officer – pornographic movie clips, had sexually explicit conversations.
Doyle would even sometimes instruct her to perform a sexual act while thinking of him.
Due to recent problems with internet monitoring and children, a group of parents and educators gathered in Trinity Catholic’s Parish Center to learn more about what on-line predators look for and what parents can do to protect their children.
During the seminar, Lt. Jimmy Williams from the Leon County Sheriff’s Office and Debbie Kelly praised parents who knew what their children were interested in but also gave them practical advice on how to deal with Internet predators.
Precautions to protect children from the Web, can’t be taught in a seminar – it should be instinctive.
Parents need to be more involved and knowledgeable of the things their children do while in and out of their presence – and at any age under 15 chat room use is unnecessary.
Perhaps instead of allowing children access to the Internet, we take it back to the old school, when outside play and other forms of entertainment didn’t involve technology.
Amber Vaughan for the editorial board.