Cassi
No probs; it's not bad to be emotionally involved with a subject. I always miss out bits of a response when I feel intensely about a subject, as my mind moves faster than my fingers and stuff gets left out; the modifiers normally, like 'usually', or 'most', so a reasonable opinion becomes polarised.
In general (not talking specifically to you Cassi) I'm really disappointed no-one else is interested in the wider issue of how our society deals with the sexuality of young people.
Do people disagree with my opinion of how young people are portrayed in the media, or are they simply uncomfortable discussing it? Do people believe there is no difference in the vulnerability to abuse of an early teen who knows nothing about sex and one whose received decent sex education, or are they simply uncomfortable with teaching children about sex, or even talking about the issue?
In my mind there is no diagreement with anyone here over the vital neccesity of protecting minors from sexual predators, or over the neccesity of ensuring such convicted offenders do not offend again.
However, catching and imprisoning such people is not a real deterant to such people; they have sickness, moral or mental, that makes their desire overcome any fears of retribution.
Therefore, unless we want this problem to affect the lives of our grandchildren in the same way as if affects the lives of our children, we have to look at other ways to protect young people.
If someone grows up in a society where there is sexual prudery, widespread double standards, and a low standard of sex education, then they are conditioned not to talk about sex, are conflicted if someone treats them in a sexual fashion, as on one hand they may know it is wrong, but on the other hand its not so wrong if they see other young people being treated as a sex object on TV, and, perhaps worst of all, they are ignorant about their own sexuality and their own sexual rights.
It is only by addressing such issues that we can hope children in the future will have greater protection from sexual predators. If we ignore these issues and go for the easy option of concentrating on the bad people, then the underlying issues that make it easier for these people to prey on our children will remain the same.