136 replies to this topic

[normajean]

i don't think the issue here is just the "sex offender" piece. i read it as this mom's decisions to let her kids take care of themselves at the ripe old age of 10 and under. years ago a 10 year could probably play outside alone, with no adult present, but not today. and in MY opinion a 10 year old, today or long ago, is TOO young to supervise younger children without an adult around. from what i see this little girl, and her sibs, have been pretty lucky to have not had any issues pop up before now......bottom line, be a parent, supervise your kids, ALWAYS know what they are doing and where they are doing it, inside your house and outside!

[EDH Jen]

i don't think the issue here is just the "sex offender" piece. i read it as this mom's decisions to let her kids take care of themselves at the ripe old age of 10 and under. years ago a 10 year could probably play outside alone, with no adult present, but not today. and in MY opinion a 10 year old, today or long ago, is TOO young to supervise younger children without an adult around. from what i see this little girl, and her sibs, have been pretty lucky to have not had any issues pop up before now......bottom line, be a parent, supervise your kids, ALWAYS know what they are doing and where they are doing it, inside your house and outside!

I follow your logic, but please bear in mind that not all 10 year olds are created equal. My son at 10 was already the size of a teenager, had lots of martial arts training, and was very bright, alert, and could handle himself well. My daughter at 10 was quite a different story - she was about the size of a 1st grader, for starters, and would never have been comfortable without an adult close by.
Just sayin'....

[udontknow]

i don't think the issue here is just the "sex offender" piece. i read it as this mom's decisions to let her kids take care of themselves at the ripe old age of 10 and under. years ago a 10 year could probably play outside alone, with no adult present, but not today. and in MY opinion a 10 year old, today or long ago, is TOO young to supervise younger children without an adult around. from what i see this little girl, and her sibs, have been pretty lucky to have not had any issues pop up before now......bottom line, be a parent, supervise your kids, ALWAYS know what they are doing and where they are doing it, inside your house and outside!

if yo
the ladys house is at the end of the st. i knew where she was at and could see the front yard from my house even in my house. this stiff went on when i was a child it was just not talked about. sorry i dont hang over my childs every move. if you want to thats fine. my child is not allowed to play out of sight of my home unless she is at her friends house a st over and is to call me as soon as she gets there. and she calls when she is on her way home i do know where my kids are and being one person i cant be over 4 kids at once yes 4 i have a step kid as well. i give my children the skills i feel are needed and hope what i teach them will help them. i do live in a pretty safe place and seen no harm in letting my kids play in view of my home . there is a littles girls house she goes in but i know what house it is and have met the mom. just recently met the dad. but i do know where she is at. she comes in and out all day checking in. I may not be as on my kids as some people but i do know where they are . like i said you cant make everybody happy.

[Catsfun]

like i said b4 you cant make everybody happy. one is mad because i have never talked to her. well meeting her woulid not make her any more safe then if i did not meet her. i did know that the very over protective parents that live next door let their child over there. and as a matter of fact i was going to go over there to talk to her and talked about that with my younger daughter. But there is no longer a need for that because my daughter will no longer be going over there. I dont need my daughter going over to sombodys house who has no issue running her mouth on the internet. If she had a issue with me she should have came to me. But that clearly did not do that. so my child being over there will no longer be an issue. No matter what you do there will be people to say bad things. Im sure you are a nice person and im willing to bet that there is sombody out there who will have somthing bad to say about you. we are not all perfect. And maybe instead of tearing people down why not go and talk see if there is a problem and offer to help if there is a true problem Or hay you can always get on the internet and run your mouth clearly the better choice for some people.

[Catsfun]

like i said b4 you cant make everybody happy. one is mad because i have never talked to her. well meeting her woulid not make her any more safe then if i did not meet her. i did know that the very over protective parents that live next door let their child over there. and as a matter of fact i was going to go over there to talk to her and talked about that with my younger daughter. But there is no longer a need for that because my daughter will no longer be going over there. I dont need my daughter going over to sombodys house who has no issue running her mouth on the internet. If she had a issue with me she should have came to me. But that clearly did not do that. so my child being over there will no longer be an issue. No matter what you do there will be people to say bad things. Im sure you are a nice person and im willing to bet that there is sombody out there who will have somthing bad to say about you. we are not all perfect. And maybe instead of tearing people down why not go and talk see if there is a problem and offer to help if there is a true problem Or hay you can always get on the internet and run your mouth clearly the better choice for some people.

Unbelievable, it you think for one minute that this woman was coming out to meet her neighbors. No one was mad that she never talked to them. Kudos to the over protective parents in the world, how can you ever be too protective of your children. I never had an issue with this woman, just very sad that her children ran the streets. She is still working at making herself look like a hero, her words and actions make her look like a zero.

[Catsfun]

This is my neighbor, she is a young 10 year old. The predator lives around the corner, it is unbelievable how close he lives to the victim.

This is a case of a mother who really does not monitor her children in the home, she and a sibling are out of the house for hours at a time and the mother never checks on them. I can write this because I know for a fact because they are at my house and I have never even met the mother. (You ask why I don't introduce myself, the mom does not come out for this to happen). You need to watch your kids, you need to know who they are with when they leave your home. My kids never go out the door without my knowing where they are going and who they are with. You don't have to have instant messenger on your computer. This could of turned ugly, the child wanted to keep talking to the predator. I hope the mother opens her eyes, comes out and meets the neighbors who have her children in their yards day after day.

This was my original post, I just stated that it did not appear that her children were monitored based on the fact that they ran the streets for hours at a time with no site of parental supervision. Not so hard to figure out when you never saw a parent. I did not bash anyone, just stated the facts.

[udontknow]

This was my original post, I just stated that it did not appear that her children were monitored based on the fact that they ran the streets for hours at a time with no site of parental supervision. Not so hard to figure out when you never saw a parent. I did not bash anyone, just stated the facts.

when you say run the streets what in the hell are you talking about lady? if streets mean our street then yeah i guess i let them run the st. i look out to make sure they are there all the time just becouse your nosey arse does not see me does not mean im not checking on them I dont feel that i need to be on the older kids backs 24/7 if you do great. I know plenty of kids who had a parents watching their every move. once they get a chance to run free will over due it there can be bad things with both parenting styles. i dont agree with the way you parent and you dont agree with me. My only point was you dont know me from a can of paint. where did i say i was out meeting the people that live around me i said i had met the people next door to you a loooooooong time ago and know the people next to me very well. The part that bothers me is for sombody who does not know me you sure know what goes on in my house a lot. unless you know for sure what is going on keep your mouth shut. you commenting on my kids being alowed to play outside with out a parent is true state that. but dont say i never check on them or i have no rules because really you have no idea. you think you know everything going on but really you have no idea

[kmwandersee]

Parents should be aware of their children's activities on social sites and on Instant Messenger programs. After a smart 10 year old reported an inappropriate contact on her Instant Messenger, a predator was tracked and arrested.

Story: Instant Message Predator Arrested

The story isn't over yet.

Not only do you have to monitor your children's computer activities, you also have to be vigilent with the Xbox 360, PS3 and even the Wii - as all these 'closed' server applications have preditors as well. Several of these systems have live chat, video conferencing and personal 'email' and kids are much more accessible on these systems then on the computer for the most part.

It is not enough to be 'aware' that your children are online, you have to be right there with them, actively participating, to know exactly what your kids are doing.

[udontknow]

Not only do you have to monitor your children's computer activities, you also have to be vigilent with the Xbox 360, PS3 and even the Wii - as all these 'closed' server applications have preditors as well. Several of these systems have live chat, video conferencing and personal 'email' and kids are much more accessible on these systems then on the computer for the most part.

It is not enough to be 'aware' that your children are online, you have to be right there with them, actively participating, to know exactly what your kids are doing.

when you have 3 somtimes 4 kids and a 2 year old its kinds hard to be over their shoulder the whole time. you have to let your kids live some and hope they will come to you. or walk away from somthing they know is wrong. we have x box and my child is not allowed to have a mic so she can not talk to anybody on there. I did not ecpect a perv to im my computer while looking for stuff on a report

[Steve Heard]

It's sad that kids have to be so sheltered and not allowed to play outside. When I grew up, my friends and I played outside every day while our parents were at work. Didn't need constant supervision to survive, also knew better not to talk to strangers.

Let kids be kids, don't be so paranoid and don't put down other parents for allowing their kids to play outside without a parent on their back.

I agree that it is sad. When I was growing up in San Francisco, we only had to be home in time for dinner, and we always were. We were, however, foolish kids, and did some dangerous things. How many of the following would you prefer your child not do:

* Wait for a street car to stop, then sneak around back and grab hold of whatever they could, then ride it all the way to the beach or to downtown or until they got caught.
* Have mock sword fights at the edge of the school roof - adding to the fun and danger
* Rock fights, which always end the same way.
* Fist fights
* Playing with fire (lighting the tip of a can of butane, pouring lighter fluid into a large bottle to see what would happen if you dropped a match in it- it explodes in your face)
* Roll a log into the ocean only to have the surf push it back on top almost drowning them
* Meeting older kids (or adults) who would offer cigarettes, booze and worse
* Grafitti

That was life growing up in in SF without supervision - most of that happened before I was 13 (the lighter fluid in the bottle thing was when I was 15)

[marmystr]

It's sad that kids have to be so sheltered and not allowed to play outside. When I grew up, my friends and I played outside every day while our parents were at work. Didn't need constant supervision to survive, also knew better not to talk to strangers.

Let kids be kids, don't be so paranoid and don't put down other parents for allowing their kids to play outside without a parent on their back.

Oh geez where to start on this topic? Well let's try this... I was preyed upon by Gerald Edwards when I was younger (I'm 25 now). I was allowed to play on my street at the age of 10 with my friends. I was not without supervision, but my mom didn't go out and hold my hand every step of the way either, much like the mother who had Gerry arrested does with her children. It wasn't on the streets that I was contacted by this disgusting p.o.s. It was in my own home as he was my uncle (by marriage). My point is this: there is danger EVERYWHERE. I'm not saying, if its going to happen oh well... I'm saying that you can never completely and totally protect your children. All sheltering does for them is to impede them socially in the future, or make them more paranoid than need be. IMHO, there is NOthing wrong with giving your children some space as long as there are boundaries & supervision (which there seems to be in this case despite what a few know-it-alls have to say).

As a "victim" (so to speak) of Gerry's, I can honestly say that this woman IS a hero in a way. She has given me (and who knows how many others) closure to an EXTREMELY painful chapter in my life. I will be attending his trial (if he is stupid enough not to plea out tomorrow) and I would love to shake this mom's hand. Kudos for getting this freak off of the streets before he could prey on any more of our children!!!!!

[Dave Burrell]

Oh geez where to start on this topic? Well let's try this... I was preyed upon by Gerald Edwards when I was younger (I'm 25 now). I was allowed to play on my street at the age of 10 with my friends. I was not without supervision, but my mom didn't go out and hold my hand every step of the way either, much like the mother who had Gerry arrested does with her children. It wasn't on the streets that I was contacted by this disgusting p.o.s. It was in my own home as he was my uncle (by marriage). My point is this: there is danger EVERYWHERE. I'm not saying, if its going to happen oh well... I'm saying that you can never completely and totally protect your children. All sheltering does for them is to impede them socially in the future, or make them more paranoid than need be. IMHO, there is NOthing wrong with giving your children some space as long as there are boundaries & supervision (which there seems to be in this case despite what a few know-it-alls have to say).

As a "victim" (so to speak) of Gerry's, I can honestly say that this woman IS a hero in a way. She has given me (and who knows how many others) closure to an EXTREMELY painful chapter in my life. I will be attending his trial (if he is stupid enough not to plea out tomorrow) and I would love to shake this mom's hand. Kudos for getting this freak off of the streets before he could prey on any more of our children!!!!!

Great post!

[supermom]

As a "victim" (so to speak) of Gerry's, I can honestly say that this woman IS a hero in a way. She has given me (and who knows how many others) closure to an EXTREMELY painful chapter in my life. I will be attending his trial (if he is stupid enough not to plea out tomorrow) and I would love to shake this mom's hand. Kudos for getting this freak off of the streets before he could prey on any more of our children!!!!!

[udontknow]

I agree that it is sad. When I was growing up in San Francisco, we only had to be home in time for dinner, and we always were. We were, however, foolish kids, and did some dangerous things. How many of the following would you prefer your child not do:

* Wait for a street car to stop, then sneak around back and grab hold of whatever they could, then ride it all the way to the beach or to downtown or until they got caught.
* Have mock sword fights at the edge of the school roof - adding to the fun and danger
* Rock fights, which always end the same way.
* Fist fights
* Playing with fire (lighting the tip of a can of butane, pouring lighter fluid into a large bottle to see what would happen if you dropped a match in it- it explodes in your face)
* Roll a log into the ocean only to have the surf push it back on top almost drowning them
* Meeting older kids (or adults) who would offer cigarettes, booze and worse
* Grafitti

That was life growing up in in SF without supervision - most of that happened before I was 13 (the lighter fluid in the bottle thing was when I was 15)

Thank you for your post. However I dont know what it has to do with my case. none of the above I think they would be able to get away with, on my street. They do not leave my st. I can take a peek out of the window at any time and see them. there would be no way in hell I would let them play even out front in sf. But i dont live in sf. I live in a court in folsom. Huge diff.