Sunday, January 17, 2010

Arrested for “Playing Doctor” in the 21st Century

I’d be under arrest, forcibly enrolled in some do-gooder re-education camp, and court ordered to stay indoors until the age of 18, in today’s world age, if the authorities had gotten involved when I was found out “playing doctor” in my childhood days.

I mention this in response to an alleged “sexting” criminal case in the news out of Pennsylvania.  The Los Angeles Times reports on this case under the headline Child porn or child’s play? US appeals court mulls ‘sexting’ case against Pennsylvania girls.  The article begins this way.

The first criminal case involving “sexting” reached a U.S. appeals court on Friday — a case that asks whether racy cell-phone photos of three girls amount to child pornography or child’s play.

A county prosecutor in northeastern Pennsylvania threatened to pursue felony charges if the girls skipped his “re-education” course on such topics as sexual predators and “what it means to be a girl in today’s society.”

The photos show two 12-year-olds in training bras at a sleepover and a topless 16-year-old stepping out of the shower.

When I was 11 years of age, it was found out that I, and some of the neighborhood boys, who were all in childness love with the missionary’s daughter down the street, had all been “playing doctor” together out in the woods (don’t get any weird ideas, we were just kids).  Man, did we get dressed down by our parents, singly and in parental tag teams.  We thought we were either going to Hell, or were soon to be fathers after being reprimanded for our actions.  Neither of which occurred, of course, but we sure thought these consequences were in store for us.

The point to be taken from this rumination is that this alleged “sexting” case has all the appearances of kids “playing doctor,” and that it is the parents of these Pennsylvania kids who should be handling the disciplining, not the State.  Individuals will say, “Yes, but in today’s day and age…,” and then append that opening statment with some blather about how it’s worse today, or some such thing, but that is baloney.  It is not worse today than it was 10, 20, or 200 years ago, it’s just that today, individuals are more indoctrinated to subsume their own judgment to the politically correct judgment of the State.

The State should leave those kids alone, and let the parents put the fear of God in them.  Allegorically speaking, that is, for those who may object to my use of that phrase.

Posted by John Venlet on 01/17 at 09:12 AM
(0) Comments • (0) Trackbacks • Permalink
Page 1 of 1 pages