Megan's Law: Can it Help Keep Your Kids Safe?

Megan's Law is a law that allows the public to find where sex offenders live. This is the first program that lets people use their personal computers to find sex offenders in their area. In most states, you can go to the website enter your zip code, and it will let you find sex offenders in your area. This law was initiated after 7 year old Megan Kanka was raped and killed by a known sex offender, that lived across the street from her. This law went into place to help parents protect their kids from known sex offenders.

I have two young daughters and I would do anything I can to help protect them. I think Megan's law is important because without tools like these, parents have no idea how dangerous their neighborhood might be. My family and I lived in a small community that most people would assume was very safe. When I looked up my neighborhood on the Megan's Law website I was astounded. There were more then 10 sex offenders in our immediate area. Before looking this up I felt safe letting my girls play in the yard. This is a very small community where most people feel very safe. Parents in my neighborhood would let their kids walk to the store, or play outside without every realizing that there kids could be at risk.

My husband and I were looking to move. I used the Megan's Law website to look up area that we were looking into moving to. I like that this website gave me the opportunity to see if their were sex offenders living in the possible neighborhoods. The neighborhood we decided to move to has no registered sex offenders in the immediate area. But there are a few in some of the surrounding neighborhoods. I feel much safer in this neighborhood. I know I still need to watch my children, but its nice to be able to feel a little safer. Its nice to be able to find this information out about the areas you live in.

Even though I think this site is a great tool for parents, I know I still need to be very cautious and watchful with my daughters. A scary fact is that most sex offenses are committed by a friend, family member, or acquaintance of the victim. The other thing is that even though I can look up the registered sex offenders, this does nothing to protect me or my family from the sex offenders that have not been caught.

I think Megan's Law is an important tool for parents to use. But parents have to remember that this is only one step in protecting your children. You have to be vigilant in protecting your children. Situations happen that we have no control of, but we need to do everything we can to make sure our children are safe. Make sure you teach your children how to stay safe. I believe that it is important to teach your kids to listen to their instincts. It is important to teach children how to act in situations that they don't feel comfortable in.