Thursday, December 11, 2008

The Consequences of Protecting Children Online

As many of you are probably aware, some members of PACA were recently banned from another network due to our unwavering stance on child protection and the grooming practices we witnessed there. The PACA group on that site was then deleted.

Apparently there are those who seem to view child abuse as a moral issue that is changeable with each individual, in the same way that "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I'd like to point out that it is a child safety issue. And child safety is a pretty clear-cut issue. Either it is safe for a child or it is not. Either you leave your toddler in a room with breakable glass, exposed outlets, and precariously balanced boxes of books, or you do not. Either you let your 15 year old daughter hitchhike to her friend's house across the state, or you do not. Either you allow your teen to meet with people they've met online, or you do not. Either you allow old men to flirt with your 15 year old daughter, or you do not. Any grays there? I don't think there are. It's all about the safety of the children, and what could harm them or kill them. And while many people would like to believe in their heart of hearts that we are greatly exaggerating the dangers posed to children, we most certainly are not.

What I find disturbing is that there are some members of that site who have been posting "discussions" to "explain" the events that unfolded. One has chosen to focus on one phrase, supposedly uttered by one of us who were banned that has absolutely nothing to do whatever with the events that transpired, as a means of attacking us further.

The issue here is not Witchcraft, not Wicca, not even Paganism. The issue here is child safety and the grooming practices used by those who would prey upon teens (children) who don't have enough worldly knowledge to know they're being groomed. The issue is the permissive attitude that the owners of some sites have about blatant grooming tactics used by predators in their effort to gain access to potential victims. There is no gray area in that. Either you want to protect the children who visit your site, or you don't give a shit. If you don't care enough to either do something about those adults, or keep children off your site all together, then don't complain when your motives are called into question.

Brightest Blessings,
~ DodiaFae

No comments:

Photobucket