It's often

difficult in this day and age, but we try to have some kind of routine

at our house, especially in the evening. Our son's development depends

upon it (not to mention his parents' sanity).

In the midst

of getting his body bathed, his teeth brushed, and his toys cleaned up,

Samuel has a nightly request from which he almost never wavers: "Mom,

can I sleep with you for a little bit?"

Of course,

this is not something that should be adhered to every night, but he typically

gets his wish once a week or so. His mother often goes to bed early and

invites him in to snuggle with her, especially if she has not seen much

of him that day. Sometimes I will awaken in the morning to find him sleeping

soundly in the middle of our king-size bed, since he can still fit between

us with a reasonable degree of comfort as his fourth birthday approaches.

Recently we

got a break from the sweltering Georgia heat and as nighttime approached,

Kelly and I thought it would be nice to turn off the air conditioning

and sleep with the windows open. As we reached that decision, Kelly said,

"Of course, you know Samuel will have to sleep with us."

"What

do you mean?"

"We can't

activate the security system with the windows open, and he's not sleeping

alone in his room like that."

I got the message

immediately.

Danielle Van

Dam. Elizabeth Smart. Samantha Runnion. The latest and most prominent

members of a tragic fraternity of young people. All three were snatched

from apparent security, with two of them apparently taken from inside

their own bedrooms. Now we have a 7-year-old girl in Philadelphia grabbed

off the street and held reportedly for ransom. Thankfully, she freed herself

and got help, and now she is home safe.

That's the

kind of world we live in today.

It's also the

world we must raise our children in, and the situation is not likely to

get any better in the near future, if ever. Parents who are not especially

vigilant are prime candidates to see their children become statistics.

More than ever,

parents simply have to be responsible for their children. Obviously, millions

of parents are already doing everything they can in this area, but millions

of others are not. But in 2002, no one can be too careful.

It's of vital

importance to know every person who has regular contact with your children,

because it's getting harder and harder to know who you can trust.

Just this week,

USA Today ran the latest of many in-depth profiles of people abused by

priests when they were children. The stories we have heard from the Catholic

Church in the past year are far too numerous to mention. But the Catholic

Church is not the only place young people have been at risk in recent

years.

The August

issue of Atlanta magazine delves into the rising number of reported student-teacher

improprieties. Several teachers in the Atlanta area have been convicted

in the past year for taking sexual advantage of their teenage students.

That problem is certainly not confined to a single geographical area,

so there is no telling how many young people across the country have been

mistreated this way, some of them thinking that they knew exactly what

they were doing. Many of them likely were escaping problems at home and

thought they could find comfort in a place they should not have thought

about looking.

As these scandals

involving priests and teachers indicate, some areas of American life that

for years were considered safe havens for our children have become just

the opposite. The problem is compounded exponentially when one considers

the untold number of psychotic predators lurking elsewhere in society.

There are no

easy answers, but a few things we've heard before need to be repeated.

Know where your child is at all times. Know the people he or she associates

with, whether they be adults or members of their own peer group.

Listen to them

at home. Make sure they know you are there for them. Hug them when they

walk in the door at night.

Teach them

right from wrong (you can't depend upon the government for that). Make

them understand that actions have consequences, and wrong actions usually

result in some level of pain, for them as well as those who love them.

Pray with them

and for them. Place them in God's hands and plead with Him every day to

watch over them and care for them. Because when you get right down to

it, He's the only one who really can.

[Monroe Roark

can be reached at [email protected].]