Cautionary tale

I am feeling a bit dissapointed today , wishing I could go to the filming of the Steven & Chris episode where my segment will be , I can't wait to see how it all comes together and wonder what the boys will say ....nervous and excited I guess...but I must work this afternoon so I couldn't go , its fine . Oh it will air this Friday at 2:00pm on your CBC station in Canada and in the US check your local listings.

How funny is this comparison photo , the one on the left is me at probably 10 or so at my friends house for one of our many sleepovers, and then Mason at about the same age , I sure see the similarities , I tell you it startles me everyday when she comes walking in and is now taller than me at 12 years old , almost 13 in a couple of months , I have definately noticed the changes that go on with teens , the annoyed looks , rolling eyes , not wanting to be with us too much in public, I love to embarass her so much I try to refrain when in public I swear, so far things are going really well in this dept , so thankful for this, we are very open and honest about everything ...

You know I always warn my kids about predators in life and online , we did have an experience with a creep on Youtube recently with one oh my daughters friends , a creep asking for a 12 yr old to expose herself , please don't under estimate the importance of teaching safe computer use with your family , we have our computer in the kitchen for just this reason ...I can keep tuned into everything the kids do on the computer . Web cam's please why do we need those ?, I don't think we do , if you have far away family I see the point but for kids and teens , no way, it only takes a moment to make a major bad choice .

When I have those talks with the kids about pediphiles and inappropriate behaviour and even have warned about proper behaviour for teachers I get the "OK Mom !" I often wonder if they take me seriously , I don't think they think these things would really happen in their world.

Sadly Friday afternoon we all got word and it was all over the news that a teacher who taught at my kids school last year, which is an amazing award winning school that we love, was arrested for many counts of inappropriate behaviour including making child pornography, luring , posing as a girl on Facebook and online convincing boys to expose themselves via webcam and through photos , this is truly devastating to all of us. It is a nightmare , for all of those affected and decieved by this man .

I would like to say that our local police did a great job catching him , so happy to hear he was locked up and the school relieved him immediately of his duties.

This is a great lesson for our kids , we weren't just blowing smoke , this can and does happen , anywhere and every where. Such a betrayal of trust .

I wish we could just protect all our children of harm but sadly that is impossible but we must give them the tools to listen to their intuition and to know what is right and wrong to expect, and that just because someone is an adult doesn't mean that you need to do everything they ask of you , and most of all encourage them to speak up when something feels wrong and keep talking to your kids ...about everything because knowledge is power.

I apologize for an spelling errors my spell check wouldn't work