Monster in the Machine
By Chief Danny Watson, City of Darlington Chief of Police
It’s dark outside and you hear a scratch at the window. You put your head under the cover and hope that you are only imagining that there is a monster just outside of your window. Lying there as silent as you can, the terror is building inside you and your heart begins to pound so loudly you are sure that the monster will hear the pounding of your heart. Minutes pass, and you try to remain perfectly still waiting as your terror continues to build. Suddenly, after you can manage to remain brave no longer, you run screaming into your parents’ room. A kindly parent pats you on the back, reassuring you that it is only a bad dream that there are no such things as monsters.
Almost every child in the world, regardless of where they live, has probably had a very similar experience to the one that was just described. Even I have told my children that there are no such things as monsters. Regrettably, that is a lie. There are many monsters that are all around us. We as parents can do a wonderful job of locking our doors, keeping an eye out for that shifty stranger, being ever vigilant to the dangers that lurk around us. However, many parents will let their children get on the Internet, Facebook, phone apps, chat rooms, and areas on the computer with little or no supervision at all.
Mary was right here with me the entire time that she was being groomed by a child molester and I never even knew it. It happened right here in my home under my watchful eye. My doors were locked, I allow no strangers in my home, I don’t leave my children unsupervised or unattended. How could this happen to my poor little lamb? This is obviously a story created for this article but I only wish that it were not inspired by the true story of a real life monster.
Thousands of children go missing every year some are recovered but many of them are never seen again. It can happen so quickly right under your very nose. Child molesters are becoming savvier as they attempt to find their victims under the watchful eyes of parents. The Internet is a fertile hunting ground for these offenders today.
Parents, I implore you to spy on your children. It’s not that you don’t trust them.
It’s because you love them. Put a locater on their phone, read their emails, text messages, check their search history, know where your child is and always know whom they are talking to all of the time.
It is not easy being a parent. No one ever gives a parent a set of best practices or an instruction manual that guarantees success. The best that we can do is to provide all of the protections that we are able. As these MONSTERS, Real Life MONSTERS become more devious we have to do everything in our power to protect our most precious charges from them.
Yes Mary, there are monsters out there. Mom and Dad are going to do everything in our power to help you to recognize them. Mom and Dad are going to prepare you to know who not to trust. Mom and Dad are going to know whom you talk to. Mom and Dad are not going to let you become a victim because we are ever vigilant. I am not sorry that you feel your privacy has been invaded but, I am happy that you are here to be angry at me. I am happy because you are alive and will have the time to come to understand why.
Chief Danny Watson MPA FBI NA # 228, Chief of Police for City of Darlington, has been on the Darlington Police Department since 1994 and Chief since 2011