It's unfortunate you had that experience. I have little tolerance for people that abuse people.

I have 2 children 9 and 7. They have been taught from the time they could reason that their safety is important and that they can say NO. They learned how to use the telephone early on, know how to call police, and fire etc. Both are trained in CPR. They have been taught about "bad" people.

We have always started out sleep overs HERE. Our children do not go to other childrens homes unless we have been there and have spent time with the parents. Our kids like to hang out with us as do the other kids, heck the parents do too.

Children need to know there is a hard world out there and they have a shared responsiblity in thier own safety.

Parents also need to utilize the local resources they have to "check out" the parents of the other kids. It's a simple look up. I will check the sex offender sites, local courts for arrest records (yes you can look that up too) DUI, other infractions etc.

It's important also to interview your kid when they come home. What did you do, what movies did you watch, what did the parents do, what did you eat, etc etc etc. Kids will tell you everything just let them feel safe and they will.

Cheers

JDS