"Predator" Check?

[1stCruise]

Although I probably should have, I never gave this much thought until I saw an article in USA Today yesterday about some 25 year old guy who just plead guilty to molesting a girl on the Wonder a few years ago.

Does anyone know if Disney takes the information we have to provide them for the TSA (name, DOB, etc.) and run it through any kind of “Megan’s Law” database to make sure there are no predators on the ship?

Thanks...

 

[Page4]

I have a bad feeling an ACLU type of group would probably sue them if they did.

 

[wonkadeb]

I wonder if there was a male passenger trying to book a room by himself, with no tie-in to any other travelers, if that would trigger some sort of red flag. I know that at our local Museum Center in downtown Cincinnati, they will not let any unaccompanied males enter the Children's Museum.

 

[countrybear4]

To me the cruise ship is no different than a hotel, a walk down the street a trip to the mall and so forth. You NEVER know who is "the bad guy". A predator check would only show you who has been tried and convicted...I am afraid of the people who havnt been caught yet.

As a parent I have to make sure my kids are safe so I make reasonable choices for them, put them in a safe environment and hope they really are safe. If I put them in a kids club I assume it is safe there..."a reasonable choice" letting them sign out and walk around the ship is not reasonable for me. I dont let them go to the mall or walk around a hotel unsupervised so the cruise ship is no different.

Just my opinion....

 

[Page4]

To me the cruise ship is no different than a hotel, a walk down the street a trip to the mall and so forth. You NEVER know who is "the bad guy". A predator check would only show you who has been tried and convicted...I am afraid of the people who havnt been caught yet.

As a parent I have to make sure my kids are safe so I make reasonable choices for them, put them in a safe environment and hope they really are safe. If I put them in a kids club I assume it is safe there..."a reasonable choice" letting them sign out and walk around the ship is not reasonable for me. I dont let them go to the mall or walk around a hotel unsupervised so the cruise ship is no different.

Just my opinion....

 

[jilljill]

I wonder if there was a male passenger trying to book a room by himself, with no tie-in to any other travelers, if that would trigger some sort of red flag. I know that at our local Museum Center in downtown Cincinnati, they will not let any unaccompanied males enter the Children's Museum.

I don't really think there's anything they can do about this situation. I've known single men that travel as a single on a cruise ship and I would never think about them having other intentions on being on a cruise.
But then this should also go in the reverse, should a red flag be thrown up for single women traveling by theirself on a ship.
This is a case of 'what is good for the goose is good for the gander'. Everyone should be looked at in the same way, as a passenger.

 

[Jey12]

Although I probably should have, I never gave this much thought until I saw an article in USA Today yesterday about some 25 year old guy who just plead guilty to molesting a girl on the Wonder a few years ago.

Does anyone know if Disney takes the information we have to provide them for the TSA (name, DOB, etc.) and run it through any kind of “Megan’s Law” database to make sure there are no predators on the ship?

Thanks...

As nice as this would be it's not possible. Cruise ships are like any hotel or public property where people gather and you cannot check everyone's backgrounds. While the laws do allow for us to know where convicted predators live in relation to our homes, we all take an equal chance when we go out into public. The best defense is educate your children. While one would hope for a world where a child could enjoy free time if they are old enough on a cruise ship, the same rules apply there as they do at the local mall or public park. Talk openly with your children about what to do and how to avoid these types of situations and ask questions about where they are going and with whom. Teaching your child to be aware of their environmental surroundings is a valuable tool to give them.

 

[TDC Nala]

They don't run background checks on passengers. Crew members, maybe.

And no, I don't think they should automatically run some sort of check on anyone who didn't do anything but book a cabin alone.

 

[grits98]

I'm not trying to scare anyone, but most individuals who are convicted for a sexual offense against a child have actually committed such acts against many, many other children before being caught and convicted. The numbers are kind of scary, so please be cautious with your children no matter where they are. In my line of work, I have had candid conversations with convicted child sexual predators and their rationales for committing these offenses are mind-boggling. Please, please keep your children close and encourage them to tell you if someone (no matter who!) does or says something that doesn't feel right. These kinds of things happen everywhere - even when background checks have been done.

 

[yargrnhoj]

I'm not trying to scare anyone, but most individuals who are convicted for a sexual offense against a child have actually committed such acts against many, many other children before being caught and convicted. The numbers are kind of scary, so please be cautious with your children no matter where they are. In my line of work, I have had candid conversations with convicted child sexual predators and their rationales for committing these offenses are mind-boggling. Please, please keep your children close and encourage them to tell you if someone (no matter who!) does or says something that doesn't feel right. These kinds of things happen everywhere - even when background checks have been done.

Agreed. Every single person who has committed a sexual offense against a child committed it for the first time at some point in time.

So registries and background checks are only useful for those who have previously been caught. I am very aware of an issue from earlier this year where a Boy Scout leader, who had passed numerous background checks over 10 years was found in possession of, and accused of creating, child pornography.

I see a lot of young children walking around cruise ships by themselves. It is a little scary.

 

[mickey7879]

To me the cruise ship is no different than a hotel, a walk down the street a trip to the mall and so forth. You NEVER know who is "the bad guy". A predator check would only show you who has been tried and convicted...I am afraid of the people who havnt been caught yet.

As a parent I have to make sure my kids are safe so I make reasonable choices for them, put them in a safe environment and hope they really are safe. If I put them in a kids club I assume it is safe there..."a reasonable choice" letting them sign out and walk around the ship is not reasonable for me. I dont let them go to the mall or walk around a hotel unsupervised so the cruise ship is no different.

Just my opinion....

Kids are able to sign themselves out of the clubs? I hope they first have to have parents permission to do so. I couldn't imagine letting my child run free on the ship. But he is only 3.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

I try to consider the odds and the real risk.
In the 12 yr history of DCL, 2 ships carrying 2400 passengers per sailing, Magic sailing weekly, Wonder sailing 2x/week so that's 7,200 passengers per week x 52 weeks = 374,400 per year x 12 years = 4,492,800 passengers sailed.
1 in 4.5 million? I think the odds are better to hit the lottery or be attacked by a shark in the ocean.

Just trying to be realistic, not paranoid. They have a higher risk crossing a neighborhood street to go to a friend's house.

I'm not saying it's impossible so I still teach my kids to apply "street smarts" on the ship.

Ds will be almost 14 on our sailing so those days of holding hands is long gone.

 

[ILoveDisney&Cruising]

to me the cruise ship is no different than a hotel, a walk down the street a trip to the mall and so forth. You never know who is "the bad guy". A predator check would only show you who has been tried and convicted...i am afraid of the people who havnt been caught yet.

As a parent i have to make sure my kids are safe so i make reasonable choices for them, put them in a safe environment and hope they really are safe. If i put them in a kids club i assume it is safe there..."a reasonable choice" letting them sign out and walk around the ship is not reasonable for me. I dont let them go to the mall or walk around a hotel unsupervised so the cruise ship is no different.

Just my opinion....

amen!!!

 

[TDC Nala]

Kids 8 and older have the option to sign themselves in and out of the kids' clubs. I believe the parents have to approve. I don't think there's any sign in/out required for the teen club.

 

[poeticdiabetic]

We got off the Wonder on the 23rd of this month (wonderful cruise!) We had two kids who were doing the Out-and-About thing. We were very strict on a few rules:

1. When you did the Out-and-About stuff, you stayed with that group unless we came and got them.

2. You go to Oceaneer Lab when all else is finished and have us paged if you want us to come and pick them up.

3. You stayed together... including going to the restroom together (we have two DSs.)

Those are our rules. They were hard and not up for negotiation. And if they were not followed, your privileges of checking yourselves out would be revoked.

But here's something that was funny: when my wife wanted to know where I was, she would go to Oceaneer Lab and page me. Also, make sure that you can hear or feel your pages because I had to put mine on vibrate. I had to feel it in order to respond.

 

[tvguy]

They don't run background checks on passengers. Crew members, maybe.
And no, I don't think they should automatically run some sort of check on anyone who didn't do anything but book a cabin alone.

Folks, YOU have to watch your children and teach them how to stay safe. No matter where you are.
I was involved in Little League and Soccer, and we did criminal background checks and Megan's law checks, but the reality is, the vast majority of incidents across the nation, the suspect had no criminal record, not even a parking ticket.
Yes, they need to continue to do the checks, but in my book my child was no safer because of them.
The international nature of passengers and crews makes this even more diffilcult to do. Databases don't exist, or in some cases, the very act that happened with the 13 year old on the Wonder isn't a criminal act in some countries.

 

[Jey12]

We got off the Wonder on the 23rd of this month (wonderful cruise!)

But here's something that was funny: when my wife wanted to know where I was, she would go to Oceaneer Lab and page me. Also, make sure that you can hear or feel your pages because I had to put mine on vibrate. I had to feel it in order to respond.

We were on that cruise with you! It was wonderful! Can't wait to go again! I fully agree about putting the pager on vibrate. I even think if it's possible a water proof pager would be a good idea. DH and I were enjoying serenity bay when scuttles cove paged us that DD4 was ready to leave and well we were out in the water and the pager was in our bag on the beach. We were only there for an hour so I didn't think much about leaving the pager unattended. I felt so bad on the tram ride back that we'd missed the page that was sent 20 mins before we saw it. Since she's only 4 I didn't want to leave her for very long, but thinking about her having to wait 20 more minutes just broke my heart, especially when we were having such a great time exploring the beautiful water. Although once I got to her she was happy as could be digging a hole in the sand. Whew.

Even as young as she is, we had a long talk before leaving for vacation about rules and what should happen if she was seperated from us. We had this discussion several times in the weeks before leaving for short periods of time. Even though at her age she would either be right with us or in a kid's club, I knew that I cannot prevent everything. I wanted her to be prepared on what to do in the event she should become seperated from us and know how to safely find her way back.

 

[wonkadeb]

All good points. I am very over-protective, so I am not planning on my kids having sign-out abilities. I am sure that is going to be tough with a 12 year old tween, but you just never know!

 

[1stCruise]

Thank you all for your responses to my post. As I said, I really didn't give the issue any thought until I saw the news article, and agree that the chances are remote. I was just curious about whether names and DOBs are run through a sex offender database to see if there are any hits for sex offenders. As I would classify DCL, as opposed to the other cruise lines, as catering to kids I wondered whether they might take that extra step.

I, too, agree that it is important to talk with your kids. But, we all know kids don't always listen, or consider/recognize what's safe--especially when they are having fun on a big ship.

I also agree that molesters are rarely caught with their first victim. Just like most drunk drivers are rarely caught their first time driving drunk. However, if just one potential passenger was flagged as having a prior offense, wouldn't it be worth knowing?

Lastly, I wasn't talking about a criminal background checks, simply a search for a sex offense conviction. I would think that should be simple, and believe their is a national database of registered offenders. While it would not flag the the internationals, it would be a start. I don't care who had DUIs, etc. But I do care if there is a convicted sex offender on board.

Thanks again for all the responses....Happy cruising.....

 

[Our 2 Princesses]

So, I would be able to get a pager for my 11 yr old dd, right? There is no way I would let her wander the ship alone. I don't mind when she is with her 15 yr old sister and their 2 friends who are traveling with us but alone... No way! It would be so easy for an adult to pull a child into a room and no one would know.