This was the title of a short article in The Telegraph yesterday, the title being fairly self explanatory and the gist of it being the perception by foreign paedophiles that Britons are more promiscuous and easier to groom. This article went on to state that thousands of youngsters are being blackmailed into performing "slave-like" sex acts for offenders.
Some of the articles I have read on this subject imply that there have been victims as young as eight. What perplexes me is this, why would any parent allow their eight year old to have a web cam and computer in their bedroom in this day and age when we all know, or should know, the consequences of internet grooming. As for older children, I know that the abuse is usually insidious with the groomer adopting a teenage persona to hook the victim in, but I do wonder just how at say 14 or 15 the victim could be persuaded to go along with making some sort of compromising film of themselves that could then lay them open to all manner of blackmail. Of course I remember being daft and gullible at that age, but I also remember having some sort of inner voice that reined me in as well. I acknowledge we live in very different times, but are our young so sexualised now that they will go along with the demands of someone they have never actually met? I'm sure that most schools would include talks about this in their sex education lessons and as so much is written and talked about it I can't help feeling that older kids should be a bit more savvy about the devious tactics potential groomers would employ.
I suppose the question I would pose to other GNs is this, if you were, or possibly still are the parent of a teenager, given the dire consequences of internet grooming would you allow your child to have a web cam in their bedroom?
I’m a Pear/Apple - Part 5. Still going!!
Being asked for an honest opinion
