NEW YORK
New York Daily News
WORKERS AND VOLUNTEERS for the Diocese of Brooklyn gasped and groaned as they watched nationally renowned child safety expert Ken Wooden lure children from a playground. As diocese members observed a polite, soft-spoken Wooden trick kids one-by-one, recruiting their help to find a supposedly lost puppy, they were shocked at how easily he gained their trust.
Some kids held Wooden's hand and others grabbed the leash he handed them as they joined in a chorus of shouts calling out the puppy's name.
"I believe by teaching these lures we won't have this awful scandal rain down on us again," Wooden said to parishioners after they watched his video presentation.
About 250 diocese youth workers gathered Monday at the Immaculate Conception Center in Douglaston to hear Wooden, the author of "Weeping in the Playtime of Others: America's Incarcerated Children," explain ways to keep children safe from predators.
The discussion was part of an introduction of the Child Lures program the diocese has put in place to help prevent sexual abuse, abduction, Internet crime, drugs and school violence. The program is part of an initiative begun by U.S. bishops in June 2002.
Posted by kshaw at December 12, 2004 09:02 AM