Parenting can be stressful, and new technologies can help relieve some of that stress. On the other hand, these technologies come with new threats. One goal of the OffenderWatch Initiative is to help the public understand and avoid the dangers that accompany rapid changes in technology. In this blog post, we will discuss how sexual predators utilize online games to target potential victims.

Books to Help Heal

A constant goal of OffenderWatch Initiative is to provide relevant resources for those who have experienced previous traumas. While one focus is on preventing future crimes, the OffenderWatch Initiative also hopes to aid those who are on the path to recovery. 

Here are a few books to read if you or a loved one are having difficulty recovering from such an experience:

Having a child sexually assaulted is one of a parents worse fears, not far behind losing a child. As parents, we try to do everything we can to protect our children, but the unfortunate truth is 1 in 4 girls and 1 in 6 boys under the age of 18 experience sexual abuse or assault. Knowledge is often a parents best tool in the fight against sexual assault. Here are 5 facts every parent should know to protect their kids. 

Thanks to the almost universal availability of home Internet, even a child’s own home may not be out of the reach of sexual predators. This is just one of many reasons that The OffenderWatch Initiative strives to educate parents and children as part of a larger strategy of uniting community resources. If families aren’t aware of how sexual predators operate, they don’t know all the steps they can take to keep their kids safe and aren’t able to teach their kids all the ways they can help keep themselves safe.

One online venue that could serve as a hunting ground for sexual predators is the wildly popular third-person shooter game Fortnite Battle Royale (typically referred to as just “Fortnite”). Many of the stories and news reports that have made the rounds have focused on the issue of so-called “Fortnite addiction”. For families whose kids either aren’t able or willing to spend too much time gaming, though, these cautionary tales don’t necessarily have much value in terms of helping them determine whether Fortnite is safe in measured amounts.

When it comes to preventing child sexual abuse, most parents want to believe that knowing where their children are and teaching them the fundamentals of “stranger danger” will be enough. However, what do we do when it’s not enough? 

What if:

• The perpetrator isn’t a stranger at all?
• Physical, emotional, or cognitive disabilities prevent a child from communicating when they might be in danger of being abused, or are actively being abused?
• What if children find themselves in trouble and have no choice but to ask strangers for help?

Situations like these are more common than many families might think, and they demonstrate the importance of efforts such as The OffenderWatch Initiative. To better illustrate our meaning, we’ll look at some examples that are based on true-to-life events.