Keeping ’em from sexual predators

PERVERTS and deviants are using technology and the Internet to entice children for their sexual gratification. As access to the Internet and social media grows, exposure to pornography and lust has exploded in our homes. Social media and peer influence, coupled with a lack of awareness of sexual development and curiosity, push minors into committing sexual misconduct.

Ted Bundy, the American serial rapist who killed more than 30 women over his reign of terror in the 1970s, confessed before his execution that his obsession with pornography had led to his crimes.

Many children are wantonly using smartphone apps to hook up with total strangers and engage in virtual sexual relationships.

How do you fight a faceless, nameless enemy? For a start, as adults we can keep the children away from the Internet, smartphones and online activities, though this may be an uphill task because we live in a technological world and social media are our lifeline.

According to a survey, 90% of our schoolchildren use the Internet and 80% are susceptible to online dangers due to poor supervision.

Parents have to be tech-savvy to monitor their children’s activities online, and talk to them about the sanctity of sex and their bodies.

Apart from that, sex education should be taught in all primary schools from Year One. It is crucial to help young children understand their sexuality and protect themselves from inappropriate touches. Many of them are learning about sexuality from pornographic materials, friends and the Internet, which may provide sensational and inaccurate information.

Sex education will dispel all the myths and fallacies of perverted sex and help to reduce teenage pregnancies, baby dumping and addiction to pornography.