Disturbing Reality

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

I ran away from home when I was 14 years-old. I had a family that loved me but I wanted no part of it because my parents were extremely controlling. I couldn’t do this. I wasn’t allowed to do that. Had the internet been readily available to me as it is today, they would have tried to control that as well. You see, my parents had wonderful intentions, but they were very authoritative. My dad was a control freak, but I believe they thought that if they controlled me, I would turn out “okay” without the “worldly” influence to take me away from God. I hated it, so I left. Thankfully, I only ran away to a friend’s home for two weeks. However, not everyone works that way. Some go to extremes.
When kids put it out there online that they are unhappy and want to run away from home (and they do), that’s when it gets dangerous.

Just Friday morning of last week, a 32 year-old VA man was arrested getting
off of a bus in Massachusetts, in route to “rescue” a 12-year old who wanted to
run away. Here is an excerpt from the story:

After the girl posted plans on a website to leave home, O’Brien reached out
to help her and the two began conversing regularly via e-mail, police said. He
said he was 25; she told him she was 14.

“He told her he would come up and help her run away,” King said. “In
October, he e-mailed her and said he had bought a bus ticket to come up.”
O’Brien also purchased a return ticket with the girl’s first name and his last
name, police said.

On Friday, the girl’s parents noticed a change in her behavior and
discovered clothes and money in her backpack, police said. Worried, they checked
her e-mail history while she was at school and then contacted police after
discovering the e-mail messages.

You can read the entire story here.

Sometimes I sit back and wonder, “Does this really happen?” No matter how often we hear about it, it’s still shocking and disturbing that there are people out there who prey on young, confused kids. Thankfully, the girl’s parents were concerned enough to poke around and see her internet activity. This is the exact reason McGruff Safeguard is in existence today. This is the kind of activity you can monitor. Had the girl’s parents been able to see ahead of time what was happening, conversation could have taken place to get the relationship back on track. Not every story has a happier ending.

I encourage you to pay close attention to your family, especially if your kids are growing increasingly distant. Use McGruff Safeguard to help monitor. Help us help you keep your family safe because there are predators out there that could care less. If you have any questions or concerns at all, please let us know. We welcome your feedback.

Labels: Internet predators, internet safety, OBrien, running away