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YU News

Pollack Publishes Article on Identifying and Preventing Child Sexual Predators

Daniel PollackDaniel Pollack, professor of social work at the Wurzweiler School of Social Work, recently published a brief article titled “How to banish child sexual groomers” on Youth Today, a website created to provide resources to professionals working with young people. As the name suggests, a sexual groomer is a person who preys on children by “appearing so positively friendly and caring,” and they may “appear as do-gooder teachers, friends, scout leaders, coaches, neighbors, foster parents and first cousins.” While processes like background checks can be helpful, Pollack suggests that sharing information is the best way to promote an awareness of the problem: “The simple but important response is to let people who interact with children know that sexual grooming is a concern…. Child sexual groomers dread being talked about. The job of the real do-gooders: Talk it up.” The article was also run by “Child Welfare in the News,” an enewsletter distributed by Child Welfare Information Gateway, a service of the Children's Bureau of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.