Protecting our Children from Online Preditors

Predators are everywhere, pedophiles are everywhere as they have been for centurys. It is a fact of life and we all need to pull our heads out of the sand and teach our children that they are only victims when they keep silent about things that they and everyone should be talking about. The more discussion we all have openly in front of and with our children about predators who can be found everywhere in all professions and even in our own homes, the better. Children who are informed, who know that they have their parents at their backs at all times are children who are safer in this world. Unfortunately, predators prey on people of all ages, as in elder abuse, and very young children to wives, husbands and everyone in between. No one appears to be safe at any time. Knowledge is the best defense against these people so open your eyes and have a good look around. Seen while I was driving elderly people to their bank, helping them into the bank, and back out to my taxi cab; tellers who "miscount" the elderly's cash to them,knowing full well that they are doing so. One elderly person I escorted into her bank would have lost $35.00 per trip if I had not been observant and suggested that she take the time, thus holding up the rest of the line, to count her cash after the teller counted it to her making two mistakes or more each time and knowing that they made the mistake and actually pausing to see if the elderly noticed that she made the mistake. It didn't take long before I was not shocked to find that this was common practice in stores, banks when they were being given change for their purchases. Another form of predator behaviour, the credit card company's recent practice of sending and changing at the same time the date that their bill is due thus permitting them to charge unsuspecting clients interest because the payment is late. My mother has used her credit card to pay for all of her purchases since she retired and but for the fact that she is very aware of things and doesn't permit the bank tellers to push her around and hurry up, she would not have been aware but for the fact that without warning the credit card company began this practice after years of sending and dating the day that payment in full without interest is due each month. There was no warning letter, or explanation at all, she went to pay her account at her bank and knew that she was not late in making her payment, and low and behold, the teller charged her interest so my mother asked why and the teller pointed out to her that the credit card company had changed the due date without informing her. Apparently, the credit card company continues to change the due date regularly now, so as soon as she gets it in the mail, she has to check the due date each month. As far as I am concerned, this is fraud on the part of the credit card company! Not only do we need to talk about these things but we need to spend more time with our elderly so that they are not victimized as well as looking after our children more closely when they are on line. Set up the computer that your children use in a part of the house that most of the family spends most of their time, be it the kitchen or the living room and make sure that you know who your child chats with, what sites they are visiting and even check out their e-mails once in a while. If you don't know how, take a class or two and learn how to set your nanny programs. Check up on your seniors once in a while, make a point to visit and talk about these things with them.