Time for me to get serious (really)

If you missed Dateline's 3rd installment of their To Catch A Predator series this past Friday, you missed pretty riveting (and disturbing) television.

The premise was the reporter, Chris Hansen, works with a group called Perverted Justice, and a local police department in southern California, to trap online sexual predators. They use a decoy to pretend she's either a 13 year old girl or boy, and lure these guys to an empty house. Once the pervs show up, and I mean lots of them show up, Chris Hansen surprises them with a Q & A attended by a camera crew. When any guy tries to leave the property, he finds himself kissing the front lawn with his hands cuffed behind his back. In total, 51 guys were arrested over the course of three days.

Watching this is not for the squeamish, because it's abundantly clear that all these different guys - of every age, race, marital status, social background - are there for just one reason. Some of them bring booze, others bring condoms, whipped cream, what have you. Hey, one guy bought Viagra. Some of them are convicted criminals and sexual predators out on parole. One of these guys was caught in an earlier installment of the series, saw the police arresting another dude in front of the house, and still he goes in! The point I'm trying to make is, just like the police chief says on the show, the only thing all these different guys have in common is the Internet. And however perceptive you think you are, you can't tell what a predator looks like when he's walking down the street. Pardon my French, but it's fucking frightening.

The biggest problem I had with the show is that they interview the creator of iSafe, the police chief and the county DA. They're all talking about how vulnerable kids are, how parent should educate themselves and their kids about the risks. And not once, did any of them suggest the action that would represent the most common sense: don't give your kids Internet access in the privacy of their rooms!

The Internet is a privilege, not a right, for minors. Everyone on the show talked about controlling online predators, giving them longer jail times, and whether they could be rehabilitated. But they shrugged their shoulders when it came to the kids. In turn, parents will too, just like the ones on the show who had indignant, but slightly clueless looks on their faces. They're all blustering about trying to educate the kids, but nothing about limiting their exposure to the Net. Call me old school, but kids are quite lucky to have a computer in each of their rooms these days. I had to beg pretty damn hard for my own phone line when I was in high school. The family computer was in the living room, which everyone shared. And I walked barefoot in the snow, five miles to school and back every day....

I know the times they are a-changin'. I understand it's hard to get by without a computer just to do a homework assignment now. But kids don't need 24-hour access to the Internet in their rooms, in order to do their homework. And if your kid honestly does need it, then there's something wrong with them too.

Therefore, I support that old school concept: Internet connections in common areas. Why was it such an outrageous concept that the experts on the program didn't even dare suggest it?

The way I see it, we're at a generational crossroads when it comes to parenting and the Internet. As a new generation of parents comes onto the forefront, which I suppose will include me one day, they are a lot more technologically savvy when it comes to the Internet and what their kids could be up to. Because, let's face it, kids can be sneaky. I know, I was one. We were light years ahead of our folks when it came to the Web; we had to teach them what it was all about. But that's slowly changing. Over time, you and I will become responsible for taking that edge, and awareness which we have, and applying it to the future.

And that by no means is a choice. It's an obligation.