I didn't know whether to post this here..or in the Inferno where I could say what I feel like saying.. Holy Crap. Inside Dateline: To Catch a Predator III - Dateline NBC- msnbc.com Did anyone see Dateline last night? (Friday) It was about internet predators going after preteens and young teens in Fairfax, Virginia. Ghrit? Isn't this your part of the country? And is there already something on this and I missed it?? (if so..just delete this please...) They did a sting, setting up men to meet either a 12yo girl or 13yo boy for sex in a house along in the suburbs. They got 19 guys, one who followed directions to strip in the garage and come into the house naked! The same guy went back on the internet that night and set up a meeting the next day in McDonalds. They got an emergency room doctor, a high school special ed teacher, and an active duty Armyman. One guy who was wearing a T-shirt saying I give blood. It's going to be aired again tonight at 8 p.m. on MSNBC.. They didn't arrest any of them. Police weren't involved in the sting. They turned over the info to the local police after the fact, and after letting all the men go free. I am one of the ones guilty of giving info....I used to trust everyone and have even been called "Pollyanna" on more than one occasion....Perhaps I wanted to believe in the innate goodness of people... Yeah..Well, that changed. Just pick up a paper, or watch the news....also after some things I went through, personally. I am pretty confidant that anyone over here who have children at home are monitoring their internet activities......and if you know anyone that doesn't??? Pls tell them about this show... I was one of those "mean"parents...No MTV...No Simpsons...(I didn't like the way they talked to their parents...) No Beavis and Butthead...No Ren & Stimpy....and I know I've posted this before....but recently I asked my daughter if I was too strict....she hugged me and said "Mom? You were NORMAL..and I'm glad you were".....High praise from a 20 yr old just starting life who think they know everything... I am glad I was one of the "mean" parents. My daughter doesnt' trust people the way I did...as I let her learn from my experiences...and told her the truth. Didn't help her one damn bit to shield her from this....That would be harming her....and putting her life in danger. If you get a chance...watch it. Someone taped it and brought it in to work this morning..and we have been watching it.....Actually..one of my friends in the PH community called me about it...and then one of the women at work brought the tape in as another girl there has a 13 yr old girl with free rein of the internet. Appalling. I'm speechless...for now... and I just feel sick to my stomach..
Yes, this is not far from here. I missed the main story, it was on after I crashed for the night. What interests me about the whole thing is that the news weenies did the right thing initially, then dropped the ball in the interests of something other than the "right thing." We still, so far as I know, have the power of citizen's arrest, and here was a golden opportunity to carry out a little experiment in civics that could have gone to the Supreme Court. Looks to me like the weenies simply want to have another law written, another secret organization empowered to go into private lives of the citizenry. I do NOT condone the general prying done by the news organizations particularly, but this was a good case, all were baited, and took the bait, bastard predators that they be. We often, and rightly, accuse the news organizations of creating fire where there is not even any smoke. This case, there was smoke aplenty, they just fanned. No problem with that, and if only they would get involved with other issues of more global interest, such as privacy, guns, border security and a host of other things that HAVE solutions rather than braying about a pandemic that might not even happen: that surely indicates to me that there is insufficient attention being paid to real news, they are just creating it most of the time rather than reporting. For example, I really don't need to see all the gnashing of teeth and wailing over the last un- (or mis-) guided teenager that drank his daddy's whiskey and ran off the road at high speed. Sure, they may take the less guilty with them, and it's a damn shame that, but where was the guidance they obviously lacked? All the news weenies should have to do is report that another idiot killed himself, and get on with less analysis and more reporting of facts, not speculation and fear mongering. The beat goes on ---. Yeah, my trigger was pullled. Grrrr ---
For many years, I spent my spare time as a Rape Crisis counselor and I can tell you that the episodes of abuse existed long before we were all online. With nearly unlimited internet access, our children, and people in general, are now exposed to a larger pool of deviants but they have always existed. Were once they were our neighbors, our teachers, our 'funny uncles', now they are new "friends" with faces unknown. I agree with ghrit that, while the broadcast may have informed someone out there who didn't know about this (I'm not sure who this might be ???), it failed the lithmus test of action. I know I'm rather jaded when it comes to the media but I think that most often programs such as these are motivated by the need for ratings.
And I think that our average 12 yr old boy, who used to sneak a peak at his uncles Playboy, now has access to a whole host of other hardcore and far more deviant material. I think the standard of 'Normal Sexual Behavoir' is now very fuzzy in these young minds and I fear what will happen when they come of Predatorial age.
Agree with all you say RH...I was a L&D nurse for 12 yrs..and saw so many cases come in that were rapes , abuse by family members, etc.....and I worked for a Hotline on a volunteer basis for 4 yrs in Charleston....This stuff has always gone on....But there is more access now..... Yes.. one of my main problems was with the media...that is why I bolded it...They acted on their own to stir the pot ..with no law enforcement..nothing..They say they want to "inform" us..but really they do want ratings and to stir the pot... However I still know that many parents out there do let their children not only have unlimited, unmonitored internet time..and not only that..they don't monitor their children's time spent out of the home...I see it all the time.. I did not let my daughter spend the night out unless I knew the child AND their parents...and the children that came to my house? I made a point to go introduce myself to them and make sure they knew where their child was and who they were with. Some could have cared less......if they even showed up! I am not putting the total blame on the media...a lot of it begins right at home. That was the part that bothered me the most. That people do not know where their children are...or what is going on in their lives. It just really angers and appalls me....If you're going to have children...make sure you're ready to know where they are, who they're with..and that they know what could happen.