Advocates warn parents about link between online play, human trafficking
The Garden City based EAC Network is warning parents about that potential danger, and urging them to monitor their child's screen time activity.
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It is enough to keep parents up at night. Cyber predators preying on vulnerable children while they're playing games on their computer or tablet.
The Garden City based EAC Network is warning parents about that potential danger, and urging them to monitor their child's screen time activity.
"Sometimes I think to myself, it just takes one bad day at home for a young person to be susceptible to the predator," Neela Mukherjee Lockel, EAC Network President & CEO, tells News 12.
"A lot of the young people that we see are continuing with their daily lives, but are being trafficked in the afternoons or are at risk for being victimized by traffickers because they are letting people into their lives," Mukherjee Lockel said.
The EAC Network's Safe Harbour Mentoring Program recently hosted a conference designed to sound the alarm on the ways in which predators can reach children, often times without their parents ever knowing.
"Often we think, 'oh, it's just Instagram, it's just Snapchat,'" Stephanie Muller, the EAC Network's Safe Harbour Program Supervisor, said.
"But it's Roblox. It's, Reddit, it's Discord. A lot of these things aren't regulated. You know, there's youth that are able to make Tinder accounts, Grindr accounts and get connected and meet people online. It's widespread."
Mukerjee Lockel and Muller said its incumbent upon parents to talk their children about the internet.
"It's about having those conversations with parents. Because it is a whole other world out there. But at the same time, the Internet is part of our world and we need to know how to navigate it," Muller said.
