Child Lures Program Testimonials
In 2005, the Archdiocese of Chicago incorporated the Child Lures Prevention School Program in parish Religious Education classes and in religion classes in Catholic elementary schools. This program educates children on safety prevention in the areas of sexual exploitation, abduction, Internet crime, drugs and school violence.
The two testimonies below come from parents of children in these classes who saw the benefit of this important element in their child’s education.
PARENT TESTIMONY 1
Image courtesy of the Child Lures Prevention School Program
Thank you for speaking to the 8th grade students about Myspace. Thought I'd share the feedback from my 8th grade daughter. My daughter was attending a program at our church. Her adult teacher took the opportunity to enlighten the children about some of the dangers of the popular Myspace site. My daughter and I did not discuss what was said on the way home, but as soon as she walked into the house she announced that she was removing herself from Myspace. She was warned of the dangers many times by her Dad and I. However, I think when it came from her teacher it held more weight and she listened. I am here today to tell you that after removing herself from Myspace six months ago, she has never gone back to it, and this was a decision she made all on her own. Thank you. I am forever grateful for her teacher and my daughter for listening and taking herself off the site.
PARENT TESTIMONY 2
Several months ago, my son, who was 13 at the time, attended his Faith Formation Religious Education Class for Junior High. The program subject was on Child Lures. After watching a video, the guest speaker began to talk about the dangers of using the Internet and about having a profile on line. When the students were asked about a popular website called Myspace.com and whether or not they had one, many raised their hands. When asked about whether or not the profile they had set up listed their name, age, city and state, many raised their hands again. The guest speaker was very adamant about the dangers of sexual predators and how they prey on young men and women who use Myspace.com to put up a personal profile and pictures. The speaker warned that predators, both men and women, go on to that web site or similar sites and begin befriending young individuals. This alarmed my son, because he has a teenage sister who has a Myspace.com account and profile for anyone with computer access to view. After the session ended, he came home very scared for his sister. They had a conversation about the session. Because of his fear, I think she was impacted by what he had learned at his Faith Formation Session. He then asked his sister to please take off private information that she had listed on her profile so that she would be safe and to keep her profile set to private.
Image courtesy of the Child Lures Prevention School Program
As a parent I was impressed about his concern for his sister, and also relieved that he learned very important knowledge about the dangers of sexual predators. Both my husband and I feel that this program was very beneficial. He not only learned this information with his peers and discussed it, he also came home and had a very important conversation with his sister, giving her some valuable information. Because of what he learned he has some tools and knowledge to be aware of the warning signs, dangers and tricks that online sexual predators and other predators use to lure our young people.