Thursday, May 17, 2007

A Rant with Parental Warning

In the news today here in Atlanta.

A man has been arrested in the suburb of Acworth on child pornography charges. He allegedly has been hanging out in department stores like Ross and Walmart taking pictures of children in "compromising positions." The article in the newspaper said something about pics of kids sitting on the floor, wearing shorts.
A friend of mine from a men's Bible study I used to attend had a similar experience when his adolescent daughter was photgraphed by a man hiding in the changing room of a mall clothing store. They caught the guy, but again, please protect your children.

Another article today, a 33 year-old man was arrested by police in the suburb of Peachtree City wanting to meet a 14 year-old girl for sex. This was the 20th arrest made in 3 years by Peachtree City's Internet offender task force. What makes this one a little worse is he is identified as being a manager of a local Chick-fil-a restaurant (I work for Chick-fil-a) and we hire starting at age 14.

My personal rant... Parents, please wake up and be aware of the reality that people like this are out in our society. In particular, for those of you with young girls who allow them to run around wearing shorts with words written across the butt like "Cheer." Your kids may think this is cute. YOU may think this is cute. Please, think for a moment.

DO YOU WANT THE ATTENTION OF ADULT MEN DRAWN TO THE REAR OF YOUR LITTLE GIRL?

10 comments:

Jillie Bean (AKA Bubba's Sis) said...

Well said! There are too many sad and scary stories in the news these days. We need to protect our children!

Robyn Mills said...

Have to agree with your sentiments. It is not only young girls who should take note of how they dress. Some female office workers go out of the way to dress in way to draw eyes to their attributes then squeal if someone comments.

Sparky Duck said...

Cheer and Juicy are cute at 19, because no matter what the age, I still find myself looking even if its just to figure out the word. Now thats bad advertising.

The one good thing as people we get older, we know how to monitor our kids computers, because most of us are not internet illeterate

Anonymous said...

AMEN!!! I have a 9 year old and a 13 year old daughter. There are so many *trendy* things that I refuse to allow them to wear. You see so much of it in this day and age and it makes me ill. Going clothes shopping for children just isn't what it used to be. Everything is skanky or adult like but just mini.

On another topic of this subject, it's also important for parents to be aware of their surroundings when in public with their daughters. Let the general public know that you see where they are and know what's going on.

We were in Wal-Mart last weekend and a grown man walking up behind my 13 year old daughter, was looking her up and down. She wasn't wearing anything skanking. Jean Capri's and a Polo Shirt. I noticed what he was doing and stepped forward .... glaring at him. He then walked in front of her doing the same thing ... I made it known that she was a child and he was totally disgusting.

So, yes, parents ... be aware of not only your surroundings, but your daughter's!

Jen said...

I agree, this really bugs me, too. I have 3 girls (11, 9 and 9) and I try to keep them dressed modestly. It's hard to find clothes that cover them up and aren't too tight and don't say anything on the butt, makes me crazy!

mama k said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog... I left another comment on your wife's... :)

Mike Thomas said...

This kind of stuff is terrifying. I'm afraid to have kids...there are too many people who want to hurt out there...

Jenny McB said...

I had a conversation with middle school girls at a track meet recently, two 8th graders, and asked them about the writing on the seats of the pants. They agreed that it was stupid, I didn't even get into the provocative part of the words.
I wrote a post earlier this week about the clothing styles, I don't understand the trampiness of the styles.

It would be hard to be a parent of a girl now, there are so many wrong images in the media and the clothing choices are limited. Good post about being aware of your children's surroundings.

Lady G~ said...

BRAVO!!!! More men/dad need to speak up against this. They need to be the leaders in their families.

We are blessed with five children. They are 19,18,17,13 & 10. Our older three are girls.

We are not accountable for the sins of others. BUT we are accountable for what we do, say and how we conduct ourselves. We should not cause others to stumble.

As for children in public places, parents really need to be more attentive. If my boys need to go to the public restroom, I make sure there is no one else in there. I also make sure that no one else "goes in there" while my boys are there. I ask them politely to please wait till my boys come out. I explain that this day in age one never knows. So far, I've not had any problems. If I did, it would raise a red flag.

With our girls, well, we travel in packs to the bathroom. LOL!

Cyndi said...

AMEN! This is my problem with Lindseys mom,i have raised her since she was a baby and now her mom is letting her run wild.and wear things that a 11 year old has no business in. I agree more men should speak out on this.Your future daughter is very lucky