We live in an electronic world, which is a blessing and a
curse.
Lives are saved daily through advanced health technology and
quick delivery of vital information.
Certainly our homes and therefore our family members can be made
safer by a variety of modern security devices.
We live in an electronic world, which is a blessing and a curse.
Lives are saved daily through advanced health technology and quick delivery of vital information.
Certainly our homes and therefore our family members can be made safer by a variety of modern security devices.
Even the still-growing popularity of cell phone technology has made it easier and better for staying in touch, especially when there is a threatening or dangerous situation occurring or developing.
The down side, of course, is that we can more easily lose touch with reality – especially those of us who are older and did not grow up with a computer of some sort in our hands at an early age.
Some of us from older generations don’t even know “how to work the darn things.”
The Internet is a fascinating tool, one that has revolutionized communication and especially education.
Its resources amaze those of us who searched through stacks of books or documents to find information that is now seconds or a click of a mouse away.
But there, too, lies a danger. Not only are there thieves and scam artists just around every electronic corner, but there are sexual predators lurking there as well.
That sad and sordid fact hit home in the past two weeks for us in San Benito County when a Hollister man was arrested in New York for allegedly meeting a 13-year-old girl through an Internet-based relationship and having sex with her after picking her up from her high school.
This is much more than a morality and surely a criminal issue and case.
It is an urgent call to parents, guardians, teachers, siblings, friends – to all of us who use the Internet or have access to it in our daily lives – to guard against this from happening to one of our own children.
There have been many cases even worse than this one. Children have been abducted and even killed after “meeting” someone on the Internet.
It appears to start in a seemingly safe situation, but it is just the opposite. It must be regarded with the urgency as if it were a real-life intruder standing in the doorway.
We salute our local schools and libraries for taking many safety precautions to prevent this same situation from originating at these public places.
As reported in the Free Lance, San Benito High School has a solid and specific set of rules and guidelines – and enforces them.
But parents and family members at home have to be just as vigilant. Or your son or daughter – or their friends – could be at risk without you even knowing it.
