Social Networks: Thinking Of The Children

After chasing children back into their homes to live in protected isolation from all possible contact with unauthorized adults, society/government now insists that they be completely shielded from social media (which may include possible contact with unauthorized adults) even though they probably do so while safely ensconced within their own living rooms or bedrooms.

This is a perfect example of "mission creep" in which we continue to move the goalposts of acceptable risk closer together to define an ever-smaller field of existence which kids must then content themselves to occupy.

This tendency is also described as "The Precautionary Principle" which posits that all risk, no matter now minuscule, is unacceptable.

Except that, of course, its not "all" risks. Only those risks corresponding to the most lurid possibilities with which society has become obsessed, namely, stranger abduction and the ostensibly explosive combination of kids and sex, are addressed by the social fortresses in which children are now held in protective isolation.

These stated concerns for children leave unaddressed the actual dangers they face as a result of these policies: social isolation, frustration, obesity, inexperience and ill-preparation for adulthood, loneliness, depression, a distorted view of the world, etc.

But none of those concerns are all that interesting or sensational, are they?

Where's the excitement and, well, the catharsis in those?

The problem is, real problems are just so damned boring!

It's like the difference between watching, say, Nightmare on Elm Street on the one hand, and Mr. Roger's Neighborhood, on the other. Which would you rather watch?

http://www.kqed.org/news/story/2011/07/11/60667/social_networks_thinking_of_the_children?category=technology

Kirkland 6-year-old patted down by TSA agents

When Paranoias Collide:

Reconciling the paranoia of "bad touches" with the paranoia of "security theater"

Oh, what to do???

ttp://www.king5.com/video/featured-videos/Kirkland-family-says--125274814.html

Sometimes They Say What They Really Think

"Former U.S. Atty. Don Heller, who wrote the California death penalty law 33 years ago, said he has turned against capital punishment, believing it is too costly and is administered unfairly and too slowly..

Anyway, he says, "some of these guys should be left out in the general prison population. Then someone can take capital punishment into their own hands, particularly with a baby rapist." "

Obviously, Heller, despite no longer believing in the death penalty, has not lost his wonderfully endearing savagery, since he advocates here the murder of sex offender prisoners by other inmates.

His statement has broader relevance since it is unlikely that he would have said this while still employed by the U.S. government. I believe that he speaks for many of our public servants who leave unvoiced their true regard for human rights.

Certainly he speaks for the majority of those posting online comments to newspapers.

Indeed, savagery is the norm today, not the exception.

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-cap-death-penalty-20110714,0,5030234.column

The Trauma Myth

Susan A. Clancy is a psychology researcher at Harvard University in the field of memory.

In January 2010, Perseus Books published her book The Trauma Myth,^[1] in which she suggests that child sexual abuse is rarely a traumatic experience for the victims at the time it occurs, and is instead described by victims as confusing.^[2] She argues that later in life, after the memories are processed, examined, and more fully understood, the experience becomes traumatic. Clancy writes in “The Trauma Myth” that when she arrived at Harvard in 1996, the trauma theory held that “a child will only participate in abuse if forced, threatened, or explicitly coerced” (p. 41). Then she interviewed victims and learned, “They did not fight it. It was not done against their will. They went along . . . only 5% tried to stop it” (p. 41). Clancy concludes that since sexual abuse of children is not violent per se, the millions of victims who did not experience their sex abuse as traumatic grapple with crippling thoughts of shame, embarrassment, and self-blame, thus compounding their suffering. She advocates for a refined understanding of the immediate effects of child sex abuse in order to better help those who are currently excluded from a clinical and popular culture that embraces the trauma model.

http://www.amazon.com/Trauma-Myth-Sexual-Children---Aftermath/dp/0465022111/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310637400&sr=8-1

Flash Mobs of Sex Offenders to Descend Upon Orange County California Beaches and Parks?

Using Twitter, organizers hope to stage seemingly spontaneous events with hundreds of R.S.O.'s and their supporters at parks and beaches where local ordinances declare them to be unwelcome visitors. Stay tuned; we hope to find out more!