Kids with solid family relationships, who openly communicate with parents and other safe adults, and parents who are involved with their kids will be tougher to groom.
That is more effective than any anti-grooming law is going to be.
From my perspective as an abuse survivor, if you think there’s even a chance your child has been abused, bullied, or is simply dealing with mental health challenges that need help, get the help early if you can. It only gets worse the longer you wait. Read the examples, and if any of them sound like your kid, do something.
No, not really, but what we should do is be sure to maintain healthy boundaries. The article below is about Compassion Fatigue. It’s real. I’ve known people who’ve reached that point, and I’ve watched people online reach that point, where they write and share about every new abuse case they see until they just disappear online because they have become overwhelmed.
The danger comes in when we try to rationalize this belief because it demands we find a reason why whenever someone suffers some sort of calamity. Otherwise, we’d have to admit the world isn’t fair. We don’t want to do that, so we make up a reason why they deserve it.
This, of course, is classic victim blaming
Over the years of having this website, I’ve had many people suggest that my abusive childhood made me more compassionate and a kinder human being. Or, maybe it gave me a better sense of humor or made me more spiritual.
Or maybe it didn’t. No version of me wasn’t abused. If there had been a version of me that wasn’t abused, he could be more compassionate. He could be a complete narcissist. He could be funnier or kinder. He could be a selfish ass.
No one knows. That version of me is Schrodinger’s cat. It’s all the possibilities because the box can never be opened to see what’s inside.
