NO SITTING ON THE FENCE .......     IT'S ONE WAY OR THE OTHER....
        OR IS IT???

Lately the discussion has been heating up over whether children and teens should be responsible for their own safety, at least in part.

Once children are old enough to attend pre-school and school they are immediately more vulnerable to people who might wish to control, exploit or use them in ways that would be detrimental to their emotional and physical well being.
                        
There are going to be those times when our kids are not under our watchful eye. They are under the watchful eye of others, who for the most part are truly interested in keeping them safe and happy. However, as we all know, there are those who use these opportunities to take advantage of their youthful innocence and naivety.

A very small minority of child protection organizations believe that parents and other adults should bear the full responsibility over the safety of children and teens. In examining this position, we here at S.A.F.E. Network, have come to our own conclusions drawn from what would be a seemingly simple argument and researched from the most valid sources on the planet. (FBI, DOJJ, NCMEC to name a few).

This is S.A.F.E. Network's line drawn in the stand on this subject:

Parents, Caregivers, Youth Groups, Religious Education, Educators, and anyone who is responsible for or enjoys being around children and teens can and should know how to recognize innapropriate behaviors, potential grooming techniques and the behaviors of children who are being or have been molested or sexually assaulted either in a one time situation or for a prolonged period.

These same people should also know what and how to teach today's youth the following concepts when they away from caring and loving family/caregivers:

Children/Teens should be taught how to recognize a potentially dangerous situation and what to do to remove themselves from it before anything bad can happen.

What to do and how to conduct themselves if they are assaulted, molested or abducted. How to stay calm, and how to get away from the predator.

They need to know who can be trusted, even if its a stranger, and how telling what happened can free them from the horrors of it ever happening again.

They need to be taught and understand that getting away and telling are two of the most important aspects of personal safety that they can learn.

They need to be taught understand that regardless of what might happen to them that its never their fault and they will always be believed if they tell.

So it is the position of this organization along with
the FBI, DOJJ, NCMEC among others that adults in general must be willing to teach these concepts and education to today's youth, but depriving them of the vital life skills education that can literally save their lives is reckless at the very least, and leaves children unnecessarily vulnerable to the millions of predators out there waiting for that one child they can consider "easy prey".