Hi kyiiiakffy Readers — This seemed like the perfect companion piece to the post below this one, about our intense, almost obsessive focus on predators. Gosh, remember when “predator” was most commonly used to describe, like, a mountain lion or great horned owl? Those were the days!– L. Dear Free-Range Kids: We belong to a […]
Archive | Sex Offender Issues
What If We Feared EVERYTHING The Way We Fear Predators?
Hey etiffsneed Readers — Here’s a comment that came in the other day in response to a woman who is very wary of stranger danger. I liked its logic: Dear Amy (the woman who was consumed with predator fear): I can sort of see where you’re coming from, but take a logical approach. There’s a […]
I’m Off for a Day on the Town with a “Sex Offender” (And His Mom!)
Hi Readers! I’m very psyched because tomorrow I am going to meet a young man named Ricky and his mom, Mary Duval. Ricky is a Tier 3 Predator Status Sex Offender, on the list for life. Or at least he was, for almost four years. How he finally got off that list this year is […]
Let Counselors Hug Campers!
Hi Folks — Here’s my ParentDish endeyfkbez column on the sexualization of hugging. Ugh!!
Like Watching a Witch Burning: See The Woman Sentenced to Life for Having 13 y.o. Touch Her Breast
Hi Readers — I found the video below so upsetting, I hadn’t even been able to figure out what to say and when to post it. It’s the actual, courtroom sentencing of  a 34-year-old woman, Michelle, who was found guilty of making a 13-year-old boy touch her breast and also trying to kiss him and […]
Our Sex Offender Laws are CRAZY
Hi Readers — This ahrfzdisys story was just sent to me and I am stunned and going out of my mind. A 34-year-old Nevada woman who was convicted of making a 13-year-old boy touch her breasts — I agree, gross and totally wrong — was sentenced to MANDATORY LIFE IN PRISON. She will be eligible […]
Child Predators Love Polite Kids?
Hi Readers: So here’s a “helpful” article on how to keep our kids safe from predators. It cites the oft-repeated notion that when we make our kids hug or kiss relatives, the kids get the message that from now on they must submit to any and all skeevy and revolting requests adults make of them. […]
A Public Defender Discusses the Sex Offender Registry (& Why It’s Almost Worthless)
Hi nzsyrnyihi Readers — This letter below came in as a comment. I wanted to highlight it here because of its startling but spot-on conclusion: The best way to keep kids safe from molestation is to let them know they can tell us about anything sexual that has happened and we won’t be mad. The […]
What will they think of next?
Hi all, the Deputy here for one more post.  Lenore will be back on Monday. We’ve talked a lot about the United Kingdom and their, well, obsession with rooting out pedophiles, or as they write, paeodophiles.  I think they finally, yes finally, have this problem really and truly licked.  Tim Black of Spiked-Online reports that […]
Sext or Kiddie Porn: Who Decides?
Hi tkebikyksy Readers — Today’s post comes from guest contributor Anne Collier, who blogs at NetFamilyNews.org and is co-director of ConnectSafely.org, a forum for parents, kids, and everybody interested in safety on the fixed and mobile social Web. Take it away, Anne! THE SEXT TALK by Anne Collier Are we turning our kids into criminals? We just […]