Are we safer by gathering up sex offenders on Halloween?
It's Halloween, which means probation offices across the country will be gathering up sex offenders and hosting a special kind of "party". I'm not sure who was first to come up with idea, but its clear that it caught on quickly. That's not surprising, since anything that punishes sex offenders is always going to popular. What is surprising is that it was not a reaction to an acual problem - merely a perceived problem.
The thinking goes that sex offenders will prey on children when they come to their house for trick or treating. I'm not aware of that ever happening, and I have a hard time understanding how it could. I'm reasonably sure most parents are like me, and took their kids trick or treating. Does anyone ever actually let their kid go iinside someone's house? If they did, would you let them stay more than 30 seconds? Of course you wouldn't - if there is ever a time when parents are watching over their children, its during halloween.
The reality is that most sexual offenses against chldren are not spontaneous and randon; in other words, they don't see a kid and molest them. That does happen occassionally, but its more common that sex offenders groom their victims over extended periods of time. It's also a sad fact that most sex offenses against children are committed by people they know, and have some relationship with - that's how they are able to keep it hidden.
Scott Greenfiled has a timely post on assumptions and common sense. As he points out, most people make decisions on facts they assume - and not actually know. As we all recognize - most of the time reluctantly - assumptions are often not based on facts. I think this action is one of those assumptions that is not based on actual facts. Has a child ever been assaulted on Halloween by a sex offender?
We need to protect our children (and for me now grandchildren), but we need to do things that actually make them safer. I'm not convinced this does anything but create more work for probation officers. Wouldn't they rather be with their children, instead of baby sitting sex offenders.
