Pedophiles develop trust among caregivers and parents and apply subtle, as well as not so subtle, pressures to assure the child's silence once boundaries are violated. The methods used by charming socially skilled molesters, known as "Groomers," are insidious and gradual, often leaving children guilt ridden, embarrassed and confused.
To help parents meet this challenge, is making four programs on DVD available to the public for the first time.
"The skills we've taught children to deal with 'Dangerous Strangers' are critically important, but they're not enough," said Mitchell. "Providing these DVDs to the home market will allow our children to watch them over and over, opening the door for discussion with their parents," J. Gary Mitchell of empowerkids.com, said.
Mitchell is an Academy Award, nominated producer of child protection films that are used by social service agencies, schools and child abuse prevention centers.
"This will make it much more difficult for Groomers to drive a wedge of silence between children and their parents. This could make a huge difference in their lives," said Mitchell.
Each film includes a study guide to help parents discuss the issues raised in the videos with their children. Once, after viewing one of Mitchell's films featuring two puppet frogs named What and Tadoo, a four-year-old girl who'd blown the whistle on her abuser was questioned by a district attorney and asked how she knew what to do. She replied, "The frogs told me."
"With access to these videos let's hope there's a lot more whistle blowing going on," Mitchell concluded.
