KTEN Channel 10 reports that StopInternetPredators.org is at it again. This time, supporter Stacey Rumenap has given her ideas to Sherman, Texas, and Ada, Oklahoma.
A new phrase has emerged from this. Check out these quotes from the article:
[Stacey Rumenap is] battling Google because she believes [Street View] is a threat to children.
She's not battling Google at all. She sent an email to Google, asking for the release date of Street View in the Sherman-Ada region, and Google spokesperson Elaine Fliadelfo responded with a note saying that they had "no timeline to share". Then comes this quote from the article:
Before it gets here, maybe Stop Internet Predators.org will win its battle with Google.
What battle? SIP has done nothing except try to convince parents to do what already can be done: requesting Google to remove certain pictures they are uncomfortable with.
2 comments:
The problem with this woman's paranoid rantings is that the uninformed are quick to buy them.
I'm a parent and can understand a parent's desire to remove images associating their children with a permanent address. What I consider unreasonable, however, is creating a panic about the publication of images of schools and bus stops and any other place children gather, like parks. You mean to tell me child predators need Street View to find these locations? Hog wash. All they need to do is drive around town in the mornings or afternoons, or drive past a park and they will find children a-plenty. Street View IMO would seem to be too inefficient a tool for this purpose.
The best thing any parent can do to safeguard his or her children is to accompany them in public and supervise them. Images of children in front of one's house can be removed - so concerned parents should exercise that right. There are many dangers that lurk out in this big bad world, and ridding us of a useful tool won't eliminate the huge majority of them.
In any case, Google Street View will probably remain - in which case Ms. Rumenap will probably only succeed in giving predators, and other types of criminals, ideas.
If Ms. Rumenap wants to spread awareness that might serve to protect children, she would do better to help people understand that approx. 80% of kids are, unfortunately, victimized by their own "friends" and relatives. For those poor youngsters, Street View cannot be blamed.
Sorry for this long rant, but there really need to be more rebuttals to Ms. Rumenap's disinformation.
In the post above, I meant to say "80% of all victims of child abuse" not "80 of all kids."
Post a Comment