While doing errands this afternoon, I happened upon an elementary school social to welcome parents and children back to school. Nice. Except for one thing. The party wasn't inside or even on the playground. It was on the city sidewalk. There were various vendors there including an ice cream truck, two different ladies with their refrigerated carts selling flavored ices, along with a couple other vendors. The scene was a tangle of adults and children. I couldn't tell which child belonged with which adult. I couldn't even distinguish a parent from a teacher from a stranger who had no business being there. There was a single disinterested police officer standing at the outer edge of the sidewalk. Anyone could have posed as any adult role model and the group would have been hard pressed to make any identifications later had they proved necessary, and that includes the cop who wasn't watching anything that was happening.
What a perfect time for a pedophile to infiltrate. He could pose as a teacher to the children and a parent or two. He could be a parent to a couple of the teachers. When everybody is happy and having a good time, it's easy for a stranger to learn a few names. To present one's self to a disorganized crowd as someone who loves being around children is ridiculously easy. Nothing was going to happen today. Today was for surveillance. To see where the vulnerabilities are. To become familiar. To plant a few seeds.
Crimes against children are the results of a waiting game. The is no rush. The pedophile has nine months before summer vacation roles around again. In the meantime, there are other plays to make. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Holidays where the kids from underprivileged or broken homes will feel left out, sad, lonely. An adult who understands and gives them candy, little presents, attention will be a hero.
The game has begun. The children don't know they're the prize and the parents don't even know they're competing. The best thing parents can to is to be present and attentive to their children. Put the phone down when the child is trying to talk to them. If the child has reason to believe he is the most important person in his/her parents' life, there will be no attraction to a stranger who tells the child s/he is special.
As the Turkish novelist Elif Shafak wrote, "One thing in the Universe is the answer to something else."
Synchronicity like people can be manipulated.
What a perfect time for a pedophile to infiltrate. He could pose as a teacher to the children and a parent or two. He could be a parent to a couple of the teachers. When everybody is happy and having a good time, it's easy for a stranger to learn a few names. To present one's self to a disorganized crowd as someone who loves being around children is ridiculously easy. Nothing was going to happen today. Today was for surveillance. To see where the vulnerabilities are. To become familiar. To plant a few seeds.
Crimes against children are the results of a waiting game. The is no rush. The pedophile has nine months before summer vacation roles around again. In the meantime, there are other plays to make. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas. Holidays where the kids from underprivileged or broken homes will feel left out, sad, lonely. An adult who understands and gives them candy, little presents, attention will be a hero.
The game has begun. The children don't know they're the prize and the parents don't even know they're competing. The best thing parents can to is to be present and attentive to their children. Put the phone down when the child is trying to talk to them. If the child has reason to believe he is the most important person in his/her parents' life, there will be no attraction to a stranger who tells the child s/he is special.
As the Turkish novelist Elif Shafak wrote, "One thing in the Universe is the answer to something else."
Synchronicity like people can be manipulated.
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