Child Lures Prevention:
Think of It as a Vaccine

by Ken Wooden

When I was growing up in the 1940's and 50's, polio was the disease most feared by children and parents alike. Thanks to Dr. Jonas Salk and his vaccine, polio is now preventable. In short, the immune system is given a taste of the virus and goes to work programming the entire body to resist it.

What I did in my research was to also go to the "germ" (sexual predators) and take from them the virus of their methods, so to speak. With this invaluable information, I was inspired to create a vaccine of knowledge - the Child Lures School Program, which identifies 16 different lures used by sexual criminals. Its prevention strategies can easily be "injected" into both the intuitive and intellectual immune systems of any child or adult. With this vaccine of relevant prevention information, survival instincts encoded into our very being are fortified to digest and resist such outward danger.

Recently, Congress quietly appropriated several hundred million dollars to stockpile vaccines in the event of germ warfare. Due to the likes of Saddam Hussein, top national security personnel have already been vaccinated to guard against such weaponry. Washington's plan is to inoculate all military, law enforcement and fire fighting personnel, and reserves exist to safeguard the general public in the event of such an unthinkable act. This action is without question one of the most massive prevention programs in our nation's history.

Throughout the remarkable 20th Century, however, little was done to prevent child sexual exploitation. The spread of this childhood plague is well documented. In just one study, the National Institute of Mental Health reported that 453 sexual predators alone victimized more than 67,000 children. The U.S. Justice Department recently announced that 2/3rds of all sex offenders currently in state prisons are there for raping children. In fact, 62% of all rapes against women occurred when they were children. Sadly, 1 in 3 girls and 1 in 5 boys will experience some form of sexual exploitation before their 18th birthday. And if these figures are difficult to face, please reflect on the fact that 65% of all crimes are never even reported!

Any disease left unattended can fester into a chronic illness, and the disease of childhood sexual abuse is no exception. Like cancer cells unchecked, it has spread into a dangerous social epidemic. Its symptoms often include learning and behavioral disabilities, substance abuse, depression, suicide, and violent crime, robbing far too many youngsters of their full human potential.

The sexual assault of America's children must be thought of as a preventable disease. Just as Dr. Salk's vaccine virtually wiped out polio, so too can a nation's resolve reduce the incidence of this plague against its children. Think of Child Lures Prevention as a vaccine: teaching kids its prevention measures should be as routine as taking them for their scheduled immunization shots. It may be the most important thing you ever do for your child. The age-old adage, "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure," was never more relevant.

– Ken Wooden