The Cradle Will Fall

A post by my ex recently drew my attention back to the "sexual predator" track that shows like Dateline are so fond of. In case you're new to the scene, here's the score so far: some local news stations have signed up with the police to coverthe entire process of luring and trapping sexual predators, so that the footage might give hope to the families of sexual crimes and parents who sit terrified every time their daughter leaves the house. All well and good, and while I don't care two jerks about Dateline themselves, I applaud the police forces who seek to keep children safe from these sick men.

The problem, as always, comes when everyone starts reaching for someone to blame. Nightline has covered various stories of underage girls engaging in a range of illegal, immoral activity, from drug abuse to prostitution. This is nothing new...In my father's generation, the hippy generation, they would have covered the exact same thing. However, in my father's generation, they would have turned around and blamed the Beatles.

In our generation, Nightline is blaming MySpace.

This is where I speak out. I'm not denying that these girls are here, or that they are doing any of the things Nightline was claiming. (Back in the day, my friends and I would see these same girls on the street, engaging in the same giggly, too-flirty behavior. We called them "tinywhores".) No, where I take issue is the idea that this behavior is somehow the fault of MySpace, any more than murder is the fault of the gun.

The problem here (it seems to me) is the same one America has always had: everyone is trying so hard to follow that age-old rule of "Don't tell someone else how to raise their children." Well, bullshit. In my humble oppinion, that gets you as far as common sence before you're due a smack in the head.

Parents of America, pay attention to your children. If they're dressing like a pop idol, with their legs and belly showing, say something. If they're wearing makeup like an adult woman, speak up. If thinking about them, dressed as they are, alone on the street makes you uncomfortable, put a stop to it. Remember: you're their parents! You hold the most sway over their lives!

If they balk at your decision, if they hate you for a week, a month, a year, so what? How many times did you scream "I hate you" when your own parents put their feet down?

I don't care what anyone else says, and unlike a lot of people, I don't really care what they do with MySpace. If they lock it down, I'll sigh and shake my head (once again) at the foolishness of mankind. However, if it's the final loss before people wake up and start looking at parenting, I'll say it was a worthy sacrifice.

Note: For the blog that inspired this, visit Ivy's stuff.