Using Technology to Protect Your Children

It seems just like yesterday that I was rocking my youngest daughter and playing peek-a-boo with her. But the reality is she recently celebrated her eighth birthday, and my baby is growing up. Everyday, she becomes more and more independent, and I have to learn to let go (a little) while she learns in her own way.

I'll admit that's tough for me to do sometimes, because I want to be there to protect her from horrible things. No matter how hard I try, sometimes it's not going to work in our favor.

Today was an unfortunate reminder that I cannot always protect my baby. She walked in the front door, dropped her backpack, slowly walked toward me, and then plopped down on my lap. "Mommy," she said, "why would my friend call me a B?"

At first, I was puzzled. "B...B...?" And then it hit me, "Oh, you mean the word that rhymes with witch?"

"Yes, that's the one."

My eyes began to swell with tears as she repeatedly nodded her head up and down.

I tried to calmly question her. "Who said this to you? What happened?" And I was surprised to learn that it was the little boy down the street. She explained that he got angry with her, because she took too long to give back his toy on the bus.

She looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said, "It made me feel bad." My heart melted, my baby was in pain, and I was trying to make it better.

As parents, we're constantly trying to protect our kids from the unknown, but sometimes it's what's right down the street that we have to be worried about.

Last week, my husband discovered Offender Locator Lite, which is a free iPhone Application to help us protect our children by finding registered sex offenders. Offender Locator Lite limits search results to three offenders, and directs you to purchase the full version for $1.99 for additional information. If you don't have an iPhone, you can also check out the National Sex Offender registry online for free. I did the search, and found two offenders in my neighborhood (neither of these men were listed in the free Offender Locator Lite version.)

National Sex Offender Registry

http://www.familywatchdog.us/Default.asp

Remember, you must access iTunes to download iPhone Applications.