My favorite “Dog Doesn’t Bite Man” news of the week: “Threat overblown of online sexual predators.” A task force of state attorneys general has found that sexual solicitation of children online is not a significant problem.
People seem to love to get hysterical about this supposed problem, perhaps because it is an excuse to a) violate civil liberties, including free speech, and b) avoid addressing the real sexual threats to children, namely people known to them. It’s so much nicer to pretend the problem is scary faceless Others, not the people close to us. If we admitted that the problem is close to home, we’d have to accept its causes in our culture and, for many, complicity in it. Children are most often abused by someone they know, and what may be worse, they often aren’t protected or supported by the people closest to them. In my experience as a teacher, I’ve heard quite a few stories of abuse and it seemed that worse than the abuse itself was the experience of not being supported, protected, or believed by those they most trusted and loved.
Here’s to the attorneys general for the reality check.
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