"Cyber Dating": YouTube Series
The day I settled on a title for my book, was finally satisfied with the blurb that would go on the back jacket, I was still musing over the perfect tagline. It would have to be something riveting enough to grab my attention at a glance, but not too over the top.
I needed it to be believable!
So, I did what I always do. I leaned back in my chair prepared to sit quietly. Dream a little. Maybe even take a powernap and wake up with fresh insight. But before I could kick my feet up and settle in, I heard it, “Cyber Dating, you never know who’s on the other side.”
A huge smile spread across my face, because I was finally finished. This was the finishing touch, and I had that sense of fulfillment that every writer who has ever spent months sitting in front of a computer screen staring at a blank page can identify with.
A sentiment that was short lived because of the sense of dread that rolled in like the tide. The dreaded realization of what some child somewhere may be going through, while I’m sitting in my cozy office celebrating the fact that I’ve just decided on the perfect tagline to go along with the perfect title and the perfect image for my book jacket.
I thought of the untold number of naïve tweens, teens, and young adults out there chatting up some ‘sick twist’ on the internet, before ultimately ending up snared and snatched from everyone they know and love. Thoughts that rendered me powerless in the face of such formidable odds, and left me sickened by my own indifference to these atrocities.
In all fairness, I did in fact write the book specifically for the purpose of warning adults, teens, and tweens alike about the dangers of online dating, because even the adults seem to suffer from a lax in judgment when meeting strangers on the internet. An unfortunate reality, given the message they're sending when they end up doing the very things that they warn their children against.
Suddenly, a single book didn’t seem like enough. It wasn’t going to be enough, and I couldn’t get my mind around what else I could do to 'move the needle.'
"Cyber Dating" the YouTube Series, is a twelve-episode series born out of my own personal feelings of helplessness and frustration, coupled with a yearning to do more for the untold millions of missing, abducted, and trafficked children.
The fact that the series is a cartoon that's more likely to hold their attention is an added perk. So, use that to your advantage. Maybe make a movie night of it, talk to your children, and allow them to see how they can easily find themselves in a situation that they have no control over when they refuse to listen.
But lookit, I don’t know if this series, or the book, will even make a ripple in this cyber cesspool that is the internet, but I have to try.
Perhaps we can do it together?
You can help us raise awareness by subscribing to our YouTube channel so that you'll be notified when we upload new episodes in the series that you can either watch on our YouTube Channel, or on our website.
Whether you opt to purchase the book, buy some merch, or watch the Cyber Dating YouTube Series you’re helping us to raise awareness for the sake of the children, and you're also helping us to get the tech toys we need to keep making awesome content for you. So, either way, it’s worth it.
Our children are worth it!
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