Internet safety is something that can feel daunting, especially if the kids in the house are more digitally savvy than the adults.

We fully support and are excited for the upcoming Be Alert! project co-sponsored by USD 327 and The Because We Care Coalition.

Human trafficking is a terrible reality. It’s easy to think this reality is apart from our own existence.

But that’s simply not true. About a decade ago, I received an odd phone call. The call was from an adult, asking if I would photograph his child. I said that yes, I photograph kids. The caller then asked if I photograph kids in swimsuits. Yes, if they’re at the pool, that would make sense, I told him.

He next asked if I would photograph a 9-year-old girl in her underwear. Alarm bells started ringing in my head. “What is going on?” I asked myself.

I’m embarrassed that it took me awhile to figure out I was on the phone with someone who had at least one young girl, and wanted exploitative photos of her. I was shocked. I was horrified. I thought “Maybe this is some sort of setup.”

After finishing our conversation, I immediately called a friend who works for the State of Kansas. Within 30 minutes, I was on the phone with the FBI based in Kansas City. No, it wasn’t a setup. Nobody was trying to nail photographers who took inappropriate photos of children. I had, indeed, been on the phone with someone who exploited children.

I was physically ill. I thought of my friends with children of similar ages. I suppose I always thought of human trafficking as something that happens to teens. To runaways. To “someone else.”

It’s difficult to tell myself that when I directly spoke with someone in the human trafficking world. This was no longer a “far away” issue, but rather one that reached out to me in my capacity as a professional photographer.

Nothing came from the conversation. The caller never returned my call to set up a session, time or place (which I would have appropriately coordinated with local law enforcement to help extract the child from the situation she was in).

This is scary stuff. And we need guidance. As parents, we need to be able to discuss online predators with our children. We need tools, and Be Alert! is going to be on hand Oct. 22-23 to help provide those tools.

I invite you to join the parent night, starting with a resource fair at 5:45 p.m. Oct. 22 at the Performing Arts Center at Ellsworth Jr./Sr. High School. The Be Alert! presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m.

It seems unlikely I will field any more calls from those trafficking young children, but it is a real possibility my son will experience unwanted online exchanges. I’m excited to attend, learn and be armed with information so we can have preemptive conversations with our son. Karen Bonar Publisher