July 16, 2007

Sex Ed for Child Porn Creeps? Here, Abstinence Rules

Whether your views on pornography are aligned with Jerry Falwell, Hugh Hefner or Catharine McKinnon, child pornography is not only legally but also morally abominable. Reading about Interpol’s 300-plus agent operation in Spain that lead to the arrest of 66 individuals involved in a child pornography operation, I thought how different our approach to busting child sex offenders is.

I’m not sure what the FBI has going on for this case file, but the court of public opinion is keeping a vigilant eye out. “America’s Most Wanted” has victim interviews and reenactments that would make your blood turn cold if you were not in the middle of your TV dinner.

But nothing beats “Dateline: To Catch a Predator” child molester stories where a greasy-looking middle-aged man walks into a upper-middle class kitchen to find himself being asked “Why?” by a creepy middle aged man with a microphone. Perhaps his mumbling answer would make me less cynical and detached if it were not being captured in the light of a $7,000 chandelier.

To be fair, television shows that admit that they are based on true stories do not convey the pressing reality of child sex abuse either. “Law and Order: SVU” always starts out in a very dramatic way. Sadly, right before the theme song comes on, Ice-T readjusts his neck chain and makes a wisecrack.

Then again, would I really want to see how those investigations go? Watch a season of Spanish agents watching file transfers from their German base or an overworked social worker try to find a foster home for a victim? Probably not, it would spoil the TV dinner.

There is, however, some hope for nihilist activists like me who would change the world if they only still believed it mattered. It is called sex education, and forcing people to take it has gone over well from Oregon to Birmingham. Granted, the content is a little different, but taking a few weeks out of a school curriculum for this purpose is popular.

I do not want to re-open the states’ rights can of worms, but hypothetically, other government institutions can also start forcing sex ed where it does not belong. For example, maybe every time you have to get your emissions testing done, you take a course on how not to be a pervert.

What if you’re not, you say? Well, I am not a homosexual man either, but I sat through a week of hearing about the evils of it instead of learning how to park, so tough.

It would not be as messy as the current sex ed content debate. The opinion about whether we should encourage or discourage adults to show sexual interest in children is surprisingly homogeneous.

This may seem like a waste of time and resources, but ask Chris Hansen how many times he heard “I don’t know why” from the creep across the kitchen counter and you will understand. In this program, I give my vote to the abstinence proponents, but a few words on staying safe are in order. “Strict liability” are my favorites.