A Few Rotten Apples.

... spoil the whole bunch.


I don't think that people are apples, though. We talked about this idea of the state making too many laws that are intrusive into the average person's family life. I think that having a few bad parents out there doesn't mean we ought to view every parent with suspicion.

As of yet, I have not heard of any broad proposal to require preschool attendance from every child over the age of one. However, I have heard from several places over the years that the second year of life is the most problematic for children abuse-wise. Is there a way to know for sure? Probably not, but I would imagine that to be the truth because of the nature of the two-year-old. The kiddo is getting into everything, telling you NO, making you tired, and pooping on the floor. In short, the kid is a mini-teenager who can't rat you out to the fuzz. :p

WHAM! upside the head isn't the answer to that, obviously, but neither is assuming that there is this vast undercurrent of head-bashing pedophiles whose lusts would be totally gone (*poof!*) if only we had preschool for children over the age of one. I'm going to go ahead and guess that if preschool were required for one-year-olds, it would give some potentially abusive parents a break BEFORE they hit the snapping point. It truly could save a life here or there; who knows?

BUT

I remember putting Elf in preschool when he turned two. It will be GREAT for him to socialize rather than being BORED with old Mom who couldn't possibly give him all the social interaction he needs, right? Ok, well, that's what I thought at the time.

A strange thing happened, though. Elf would run away. From a playground. The workers never thought to put a lock on the gate leading OUT of the playground or even latch the door at all. No kid is going to leave a playground, right?

Wrong. He did this sort of thing for a while and I THOUGHT that the workers knew what to expect and would have things under control after we talked about things, made plans, etc. But before you know it, they went and lost him again and he wound up within 30 feet of a major highway.

Now, what if I were REQUIRED to put Elf in such a school? I'd submit to you that that would be like requiring him to be sent to school to be abused. JUST like he was abused in public school later. Not that I'm bitter or anything. And not that I think for one second that any one of these people woke up on a given morning with an evil cackle and gleefully plotted against him. But Elf is still negatively affected by his experience regardless.

Hey, there *are* truly some great programs out there. If you can get into them and live nearby. Sure. Public school is not the Great Satan, even if it ACTS that way as an organization sometimes.

And there *are* truly some parents who "homeschool" to cover abuse or, as it appears in the Benita Jacks case, to cover up a murder or four. I think we should be careful before putting constraints on the parents, however. Even with the Benita Jacks case, social workers, school officials and other folks were well aware that this was a family in some serious trouble. The rules that WERE in place at the time of the murders weren't even followed, so I'm not really sure what putting MORE laws down on the books is gonna do.

Perhaps because lax enforcement is expected, lots and lots of laws need to be passed so that someone looks into suspicious stuff *sometime* before someone's killed the next time?

I could link this idea with the several situations I know of REAL children who were abused by their "parents" while attending public schools. It is NOT the school's fault. It is NOT the social worker's fault because she assumed that most parents are going to love their children. It isn't fair to cry for the social worker's job on a platter if she truly showed up and did her job but reached the "wrong" conclusion as evidenced later. The abuse is NOT her fault.

Abuse is always, always, always the fault of the abuser and should be punished to the fullest extent of the law. I'm going to leave my opinions concerning the role of the posse in regards to the repeat sex offender for the sake of brevity here. Let me just say these people are nasty, nasty, sick and gross and too many of 'em never get caught. Too many "plea bargains" out there. They are someone's children, though. When they've served their time, is there any place that wants them? I'd ask my Christian friends reading if they TRULY TRULY believe that a child molester can be transformed and repentant. And if they do, whether neighbourhood watch lists are an appropriate deterrant. I'm genuinely really, really not sure. I do know that I wouldn't want, for my child's sake and others', for them to work in the church nursery or the local schools because of the temptation factor.

More on this later. God bless you as you read and respond.