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Today, Dr. Phil did a show about the upcoming movie, Gardens of the Night, which is about two teenagers attempting to get over having been abducted and sexually abused as children. Tom Arnold plays the abductor, and (judging by the trailer and the IMDB clips) he pulls off a remarkable performance. I didn't know he could seriously act. Apparently, his character is based on a real neighbor who sexually abused him. Did not know that either.
Arnold and the director were so passionate about educating children about the dangers of potential abductors, and it struck a cord. I grew up in the sex offender capital of the country, where we apparently have more registered sex offenders than anywhere else. As of now, there are at least four or so that I know of on my street and just around the corner from me.
When I was a little kid, a man driving a white van pulled up in front of my house as I was playing in my front yard, and he attempted to wave me over. Thankfully, I was well-versed in "bad stranger behavior," and I went running for my parents. By the time they came out to see, he was already gone. Some years later, I was waiting for my little sister's school bus to arrive-- I was sent to retrieve her that day for some reason-- when I was approached again. I was sitting on the curb when a man drove by, saw me, did a double-take, and then performed a U-turn so that he could pull up beside me. He got out of his car and came up to me pretending to be a reporter. As a "reporter," he wanted to know what I was up to. This guy was no reporter. He didn't even have any props (i.e. a notepad or whatever) to back up his story. The only questions he asked me were if I lived nearby, how old my little sister was, and if I picked her up in that spot every day. I was surprised to be approached by him (I knew what he was immediately), since I was at least in my early teens and I was under the impression that only little kids were abducted by child predators. Apparently not. Anyway, I was understandably worried about my little sister, whose bus pulled up while he was talking to me, so I quickly excused myself, made sure that her hand was in mine the second she stepped off the bus, and then we quickly ducked into a nearby trailer park in an effort to lose him. I saw him slowly drive by the trailer park, obviously looking for us, but he couldn't pull in, so we just waited him out.
Sorry for the maudlin post, but this movie (and the Dr. Phil show about it) really got me thinking. How close was I in either of those situations to having my life turn out completely different? What would have happened to me if that guy had gotten me into his van? What if I wasn't intuitive enough to see through that guy's guise? I could have been one of those faces on those "Have You Seen Me?" flyers that end up in people's junk mail, and pretty easily at that. It's pretty disturbing. And so, so, so important to educate kids about potential dangers to them.
Arnold and the director were so passionate about educating children about the dangers of potential abductors, and it struck a cord. I grew up in the sex offender capital of the country, where we apparently have more registered sex offenders than anywhere else. As of now, there are at least four or so that I know of on my street and just around the corner from me.
When I was a little kid, a man driving a white van pulled up in front of my house as I was playing in my front yard, and he attempted to wave me over. Thankfully, I was well-versed in "bad stranger behavior," and I went running for my parents. By the time they came out to see, he was already gone. Some years later, I was waiting for my little sister's school bus to arrive-- I was sent to retrieve her that day for some reason-- when I was approached again. I was sitting on the curb when a man drove by, saw me, did a double-take, and then performed a U-turn so that he could pull up beside me. He got out of his car and came up to me pretending to be a reporter. As a "reporter," he wanted to know what I was up to. This guy was no reporter. He didn't even have any props (i.e. a notepad or whatever) to back up his story. The only questions he asked me were if I lived nearby, how old my little sister was, and if I picked her up in that spot every day. I was surprised to be approached by him (I knew what he was immediately), since I was at least in my early teens and I was under the impression that only little kids were abducted by child predators. Apparently not. Anyway, I was understandably worried about my little sister, whose bus pulled up while he was talking to me, so I quickly excused myself, made sure that her hand was in mine the second she stepped off the bus, and then we quickly ducked into a nearby trailer park in an effort to lose him. I saw him slowly drive by the trailer park, obviously looking for us, but he couldn't pull in, so we just waited him out.
Sorry for the maudlin post, but this movie (and the Dr. Phil show about it) really got me thinking. How close was I in either of those situations to having my life turn out completely different? What would have happened to me if that guy had gotten me into his van? What if I wasn't intuitive enough to see through that guy's guise? I could have been one of those faces on those "Have You Seen Me?" flyers that end up in people's junk mail, and pretty easily at that. It's pretty disturbing. And so, so, so important to educate kids about potential dangers to them.
