Police: Keep youth protected
Laura Bond, Reporter
06-02-2008
Now that students are out of school for the summer, parents and the
community overall will need to heed additional safety concerns.With the loss of structure that comes with going to school every day, more children will be found playing in the streets and getting into trouble, said Ruston Police public information officer Lt. Curtis Hawkins.
“(Drivers) definitely have to watch for children, who historically have a lot more leeway during the summer,” Hawkins said. “Parents may extend their boundaries with how far they can go and what they can do.
We’ll always encounter children on bikes or running and playing.
Sometimes kids aren’t aware of the dangers of simply crossing the road, or they’re just so caught up trying to get the ball, they may forget to look and see if it’s safe to cross.”
Criminal activity among young people also increases with the heat of summer, Hawkins said, with more instances of vandalism, thefts and fighting taking place.
He said the theft of bicycles has been on the rise. A young person riding a bicycle might spot a newer bicycle in front of a house, take it and leave their older model bicycle in its place.
“They upgrade,” Hawkins said. “Some of these are crimes of opportunity where they were not planning to steal the bike until they looked over there and saw it. Bikes and toys should be kept out of sight when they are not being used, and bike chains can also provide a lot of protection.”
Local teen Hannah Blockson agrees that summer can be a troublesome time for some young people.
“It’s bad because they have more time to be with friends and be out on the street,” said Blockson, 16. “Teens need to have more camps to stay out of trouble.”
Hawkins said parents can help their children stay out of mischief this summer by keeping them busy and communicating with them. This could entail checking up with the parent of the child’s house where they are supposed to be and getting them involved in church programs, summer camps, the Boys and Girls Club or just assigning them chores and making them get a summer job.
“There’s not as much supervision during summertime hours, and parents need to be aware of where their children are and what they’re doing — being very diligent in asking them questions,” Hawkins said, adding that failure to do so can lead to legal repercussions. “Many times when the parents don’t get involved with their child in the summertime, we get involved with their child.”
Another area where parents need to get connected is with the Internet. RPD Lt. Steve Beard, who works in Internet sting operations, said about five local residents have been charged with some sort of computer-aided solicitation for sexual purposes in the last three years. In Monroe and Shreveport, Beard said the arrests total about two to three a month. After entering a chatroom and pretending to be an underage male or female, Beard said it is generally only about 12 seconds before he is contacted by someone wanting a sexual favor or using very inappropriate language.
Even on sites such as myspace and facebook — where young people are supposed to be able to monitor who they let in — it is not safe, Beard said.
“The online predators who truly prey on our children are aware of ways to get around those blocks and make contact with them,” Beard said. “They may pretend to be a 14-15 year-old male or female, when in reality they may be a 50-year-old businessman.”
Beard said a young person’s chances of being solicited by an online predator go up during the summer because the child has more time and may be left unattended while the parents are at work. Additionally, he said the online predators are aware the students are out of school and take advantage of this opportunity to open communication.
Parents can take several actions to decrease the chances of their child being solicited online, such as placing the computer in a central location in the house and not allowing their children to enter into chatrooms.
“If you allow them to have an online profile, be involved in that part of your child’s life,” Beard said.
“We make time to go to events like football games and dance recitals, but when we’re at home it’s like we’re safe and protected. The Internet has actually allowed the world in our homes, so be a part of their online experience.”
Beard said young people should never post identifying information about themselves online, such as pictures of themselves, full names, schools they attend or neighborhoods they live in.
“Don’t post anything that would let that person trying to do the child harm identify them,” Beard said. “To the predator it’s one more piece of the puzzle to help them find that child.”
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