My wife has one of those fancy phones that is capable of housing every app imaginable.
One such app is Life360, which allows parents to see where sex offenders live and pinpoint where their children are at any given time by "checking in" with the kids' smart phones.
It's a handy tool and a real eye-opener when checking to see how close a sex offender is to one's home.
Chances are one is nearby. The map is littered with dots that identify sex offenders and the crimes they committed.
According to the Arkansas Crime Information Center, there are 8,996 registered sex offenders in Arkansas, including 213 in Mississippi County, which has the ninth most of any county in the state.
ACIC shows there are a total of 51 sex offenders living in Blytheville and Gosnell.
Among those, there are Level 4 sex offenders (sexually violent predators) living in the 3100 block of South Division, 1200 block of South Franklin, 500 block of Maple and the 200 block of Stemac.
There are several Level 3 (high risk) sex offenders, including ones in the 500 block of Stemac, 3800 block of County Road N679, 3400 block of Debra Lane, 1300 block of South Seventh, 900 block of Lilly, 100 block of West Sawyer, 1000 block of West McHaney, 1000 block of South Division, 100 block of East McHaney, 500 block of East Cherry, 100 block of West Sycamore, 400 block of Stemac, 2400 block of West McHaney, 2000 block of West Rose, 2300 block of Peabody, 300 block of Lakewood, 400 block of South 21st Street, 200 block of North Franklin, 100 block of South 10th, 100 Block of East Main, 2100 block of Edwards, 1500 block of Holly, 200 block of East Missouri, 1500 block of Holly, 200 block of East Kentucky, 1600 block of Meadow Lane, 1600 block of East County Road 196, 1000 block of East State Highway 312, 100 block of Dorris Lane (Gosnell), 500 block of Clement (Gosnell) and 5200 block of NCR 503 (Gosnell).
Their names and offenses are available at http://www.acic.org/offender-search/index.php. The Gosnell Police Department has a list of nine sex offenders living in Gosnell, ranging from Level 1-4.
What's scary, those are only the ones who have been caught. No doubt there are others out there who are dangers to children like, allegedly, Shawn Morgan, the man accused of killing his neighbor, 3-year-old Breeann Rodriguez of Senath.
As a child, I felt free to ride my bicycle basically anywhere. Nearly each summer day me and my buddies would trek to the store, about a mile or so away. Back then, we had no concerns of a sexual predator lurking nearby.
Today, I wouldn't let my children ride alone down the streets, much less a few blocks away. It's just not safe out there.
That's a shame too. They can't enjoy some of the simple things those in my generation did because of the fear some sick, twisted individual is waiting for the opportunity to prey on them. He doesn't think of the effect it will have on the child or their family, only of satisfying some disturbed desire that is just incomprehensible.
Too bad they can't all be forced to one isolated place as far away from here as possible.
mbrasfield@blythevillecourier.com