Child Counselor on 3 Tips to Protect Your Kids from Molesters at Water Parks

By Published On: July 20th, 20092.1 min read

In the past month, there have been four charges of exposure or molestation in the Orlando area water parks including Typhoon Lagoon, Wet n Wild & Aquatica. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 7% of boys and 25% of girls will be molested by the age of 18. As a result of the recent events, Orlando’s NBC affiliate, WESH 2 News contacted the Jim West, MA, LMHC, President of Total Life Counseling Center these 3 questions (See Jim’s News Video Segment Below):

3 Questions for Parents and Children

  1. What can parents do to protect their kids from sexual predators?
  2. What can a child do if they are touched inappropriately or someone exposes themselves?
  3. What makes a sex offender do molest children?

3 Parent Tips | The news segment was limited to 1 minute 20 seconds and therefore the following are additional tips and answers to these questions:

  1. Parents need to be careful not to use water parks and their season passes as a baby sitter for their children at the parks. If a child or teen is touched inappropriately they would rather tell their parents. If their parents are not around they may just feel dirty, shameful, responsible for the act and therefore not say anything at all. Be there at the Park with your children and make sure they tell you where they are at all times.
  2. Parents need to supervise their children/adolescents and tell them if anyone is following them, making them feel uncomfortable or touches them to come to scream or yell first and tell them immediately. Draw attention to themselves and the perpetrator so the lifeguards and officials can spot the perpetrator.
  3. Sexual offenders in most cases have been molested as children. When children are molested it’s important to get counseling so they can work through the issues of guilt, feeling dirty or shameful. Additionally, they need to learn that this was not their fault and learn appropriate boundaries as well as healthy sexuality when age appropriate. Sex Offenders often will offend on someone they know whether it’s a neighbor, friend of the family, family member, etc. Sexual offenders often have difficulty interacting with same age peers which effects their ability to have healthy relationships. Additionally, sexual offenders have sexual addictions to include heavy pornography.

If your child has been molested or abused please get help for your child so they do not repeat the same behavior on someone else. Once a sexual offender always a sexual offender according to research.

NOTE: you can freely redistribute this resource, electronically or in print, provided you leave the authors contact information below intact.

author avatar
Jim West
Adolescent Expert, Jim West offers expert advice to Local and National TV News & Schools Internationally and provides phone or face-to-face counseling in the Orlando area. Jim is an Author, Communicator, School Consultant, Nationally Certified and State Licensed Counselor and specializes in counseling for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Jim has been interviewed for multiple TV, Radio, magazine and newspaper articles. He is president of Total Life Counseling Center and his Total Life approach accelerates the therapeutic & healing process by relating to children, adolescents and adults and incorporating wellness. Jim’s clients travel from all over Florida, England, Georgia, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas as he has been able to treat clients with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression and more with FDA approved supplements and Dietary Modifications. 85% of his clients have not needed medication or used less medication than when they first came to Total Life Counseling Center.

Share This Story, Choose Your Platform!

Total Life Counseling Center consists of Licensed Counselors, masters level therapists, Español counselors, Licensed Mental Health Counselors, business coaches, and image enhancement coaches who provide counseling for emotional, mental, physical and spiritual care including marriage, individual, family, substance abuse and more. TLC’s family, trauma and marriage experts have been interviewed on National and Local TV/Radio over 200 times for their expert advice on Fox News, OWN, WETV, ABC’s Medical Minute and more. Our skilled counselors are relational, approachable and specialists providing therapy services in the Central Florida area including: OrlandoWinter ParkMetroWest, Windermere, Dr. Phillips, East OrlandoLake Mary, and Clermont, Boca Raton Florida, and Dallas, TX.

About the Author: Jim West

Adolescent Expert, Jim West offers expert advice to Local and National TV News & Schools Internationally and provides phone or face-to-face counseling in the Orlando area. Jim is an Author, Communicator, School Consultant, Nationally Certified and State Licensed Counselor and specializes in counseling for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Jim has been interviewed for multiple TV, Radio, magazine and newspaper articles. He is president of Total Life Counseling Center and his Total Life approach accelerates the therapeutic & healing process by relating to children, adolescents and adults and incorporating wellness. Jim’s clients travel from all over Florida, England, Georgia, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas as he has been able to treat clients with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression and more with FDA approved supplements and Dietary Modifications. 85% of his clients have not needed medication or used less medication than when they first came to Total Life Counseling Center.

Leave A Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

author avatar
Jim West
Adolescent Expert, Jim West offers expert advice to Local and National TV News & Schools Internationally and provides phone or face-to-face counseling in the Orlando area. Jim is an Author, Communicator, School Consultant, Nationally Certified and State Licensed Counselor and specializes in counseling for Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADD/ADHD) and Oppositional Defiance Disorder (ODD). Jim has been interviewed for multiple TV, Radio, magazine and newspaper articles. He is president of Total Life Counseling Center and his Total Life approach accelerates the therapeutic & healing process by relating to children, adolescents and adults and incorporating wellness. Jim’s clients travel from all over Florida, England, Georgia, Cayman Islands and the Bahamas as he has been able to treat clients with ADHD, Anxiety, Mood Disorders, Depression and more with FDA approved supplements and Dietary Modifications. 85% of his clients have not needed medication or used less medication than when they first came to Total Life Counseling Center.