Predators come in all shapes, forms, and sizes. Unfortunately, they have no specific characteristics that can point out who they are and what they are capable of. It can be your normal neighbor across the street, or that cashier from the gasoline station nearby, it can even be your middle school math teacher, and the scariest part is that you wouldn’t even know it. They blend into society and often make themselves appear as someone you can trust.
Predators can be all around you and you might never know. But also keep in mind that not everyone is a predator and it takes a lot of investigating to find that out. U.S District Attorney, Mary Buchanan says, “Predators are in all professions. Unfortunately, we have seen doctors, lawyers, law enforcement and clergy. There is really no common trait. In fact, many of them are drawn to those particular professions which give them access to children.” Children are the most vulnerable to falling into the trap of a predator. According to Internet Safety 101, predators use sites that they know children will use.
The percentage of criminal arrests related to child exploitation has stayed steady at 18% from 2019 and 2018. What tech companies did find was 45 million online content of children being sexually abused, that’s more than double than the previous year according to Internet Safety 101. 67% of the children who have survived sexual abuse have claimed that the distribution of images has had a different impact on them than the physical contact because what’s out in the web is permanent.
If you have experienced any sort of abuse, report it. There’s people out there that are willing to help. It’s important to get that person out of doing the same to someone else, you could potentially end up helping others. Be safe and allow a trusted adult to be involved as well.
Social Media Safety 