Public Service or Sick Entertainment?

Recently, I was tipped off to an in-depth article in Esquire magazine that went behind the scenes of Dateline NBC's "To Catch a Predator." If you're not familiar with the prime time series you can get the lowdown here, but basically Dateline (hosted by Chris Hansen) teams up with an independent "watchdog" group to catch sexual predators in online chats with minors.

Then Dateline hires an actor to pose as the minor, talk with the offenders on the phone and set up an in-person meeting at a house leased by Dateline. The decoy house, as it is known, is wired with all kinds of microphones and cameras so not a single moment is missed when Hansen confronts the people who come to the house thinking they're going to have an encounter with a minor. After the interview, the predator is arrested upon leaving the decoy house by local law enforcement who have been previously informed by Dateline about who to look for, when and where.

While Dateline sells the show by saying they're helping to take dangerous people off the streets, I think the whole premise is gory. It provides the audience with the chance to watch someone be set up and humiliated, plain and simple. Although I have no sympathy for these criminals, I don't think it's the role of the news media to conduct sting operations involving sexual predators and then televise them as investigative reporting and a public service. I mean, if it was really about catching dangerous people then why aren't they arrested after engaging in the online sexual solicitation of minors? After all, that is the actual crime. Why the need for a decoy house? Because it makes for dramatic, some would say "good," television.

Well, that drama was turned up a notch when a man from Texas, a felony prosecutor no less, was involved in the online chat sting. Bill Conradt used very explicit language in chatting with who he believed was a 13-year-old boy and after several phone conversations Conradt agreed to a meeting. However, he never showed up. Dateline's actor called the man several times trying to entice him into coming to the decoy house, Conradt continued to say he would be there, but he never followed through.

Conradt had already committed a crime, so police, and Dateline, decided to confront the man at his home. This is where the waters get very murky. While it was necessary for the police to go to the Conradt's residence for the arrest, why was it necessary for Dateline to be there? Conradt did not take Dateline's bait to show up at the decoy house, so shouldn't their involvement have ended there?

Well, Dateline was at the house and so was the SWAT team. Once Conradt realized he was caught he decided to take his own life while still inside his home. Suddenly, the light began to shine very brightly on Dateline's "To Catch a Predator."

20/20 did a story involving the show and, like the Esquire magazine article, painted a very dark picture of the incident where Dateline didn't just tag along with police or conduct it's own independent investigation - 20/20 pointed out that there are allegations (from people who worked on that particular episode) that the show actually may have influenced police procedure. A former police officer who provided security for the Dateline crew even goes so far as to say that the arrests that are caught on tape are set up to give the most dramatic visual effect and not to insure the safety of the police officers themselves.

This all just doesn't sit well with me. Not only do I not see this show as a form of public service, but I find it dangerous that a camera crew can influence who gets arrested, when and where. (By the way, Dateline aired the Conradt story - SWAT team, ambulance, medical helicopter and all - weeks ago. Apparently they didn't feel any responsibility when it came to how things turned out. I mean, the guy was a criminal, he doesn't deserve to be treated like a human, does he? They certainly didn't air the episode to expose Conradt publicly as a threat to our children - he was already dead by then.)

There are so many facets to this story, and I've written so much already, that I can't possibly get into them all. However, I encourage you to read the Esquire article and really think about how far is too far? Are we really doing a service to ourselves or our children by watching these kinds of shows or are we being sadistic voyeurs who are feeding into the lowest of the low in television news and entertainment?

I don't want sexual predators anywhere near my children either, but I really don't think "To Catch a Predator" is the answer. After all, about 90% of sex crimes against children are perpetrated by someone the children know, so it's really more important to know about the people who your children come into contact with everyday rather than the random guy down the street or on the Internet. And if Dateline isn't providing us with any answers, then why are they on TV again?

Sunday Night Random

Another installment of "Kids Say the Funniest Things"

(While Wrestling)
Five-Year-Old: Daddy, do you know why you remind me of a termite?

Daddy: Why?

FYO: (Punching Daddy's stomach) Because your body's so soft!

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I've also done my monthly post over at The Soccer Mom Vote. This time I took on the timely topic of teens and curfews at, of all places, the mall. Yes, there are malls across the country making it their policy to force teens out by a certain hour (some as early as 2 p.m.) unless accompanied by an adult. (I don't know about you, but my friends and I used to go to the mall to get away from our parents.) Nothing heavy, but something to think about.

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One more thing. I'm in love with John Edwards. Not just because he's dashing and got great hair. No I love his policy ideas the most. And his wife. She's my kind of First Lady. Although I'm finding it almost comical to watch the political gaming going on so early in this run for the 2008 Presidency, I enjoy John Edwards. He's my candidate in '08.

Another Day, Another Recall

I was driving into work this morning and was informed by the radio news anchor that Mattel has issued a toy recall involving some 9 million pieces. This, of course, comes after Fisher-Price recalled 1.5 million toys and RC2 Corporation recalled another 1.5 million Thomas the Tank Engine characters because paint that was used in production was contaminated with lead.

This (as we all know) has shed an unflattering light upon the manufacturing practices in China. It hasn't just been toys that have caused alarm, but food and children's jewelery and toothpaste . . . We've all heard about it so there is no point in recapping everything. Let's just say that there is a BIG problem.

However, my reprimand isn't necessarily aimed at the government inspectors (or lack there of) because I think it's unreasonable to expect that EVERY product that comes into this country be inspected upon arrival before it reaches store shelves - at least not by some government agency. No, I feel that the onus here is on the corporations selling us the products.

You see, when I exchange my hard earned money for a product that I need or want, I in turn feel that the manufacturers of said product should be selling me a safe product. Why else would I buy it? (Especially for my children.) It's an unwritten contract of sorts - I pay you, you provide me with something that won't make me or my family ill. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it?

Now things in China are exploding. They are experiencing an Industrial Revolution right now much like the one the U.S. experienced nearly 200 years ago. I think most of us reading this right now remember the horror stories from our history classes of child labor, industrial accidents that resulted in the loss of limbs, etc. Anyone read Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle?" I mean, the Industrial Revolution was about survival not quality control.

Which brings me to my point that since we all know what is happening in China, where are the representatives from these big corporations who choose to move overseas and manufacture their products there? Where are the company inspectors and production managers to oversee the actual making of these goods that they are selling to us? If you moved your business to a foreign country with different standards and regulations wouldn't you, as a business owner, want to know exactly what was happening on the production line? Wouldn't you want to make sure that the products being produced there were as good, if not better since you're saving money in production, as all the others carrying your company name and reputation?

I know I would. But then again big business isn't concerned with the actual product they put out, but are more focused on profit margins and seeing how little money they can spend on production to bring in more money for profit.

I think it's time for some good old-fashioned self regulation, so instead of boycotting China (which, no doubt, needs some help) why don't we start boycotting the companies themselves until they can prove to us that they're making their products safe? That in turn would help China improve its own quality and safety issues because the companies they're working for would insist upon a better, safer product.

Go Green AND Be the Latest in Fashion

Come on. You knew it was inevitable. With all the celebrities involved. The obvious PR push to make environmentalism the latest and greatest. Well, now you can be "green" AND a hip, cool trend-setter at the same time.

According to this article which appeared in yesterday's New York Times, supermarket chain Whole Foods has started selling reusable, grocery bags designed by London handbag designer Anya Hindmarch. These bags, which sell for $15 and don the catchy phrase "I'm NOT a plastic bag," are being released in just 15 stores in the New York area (to create demand of course!) and they're already showing up on Ebay for as much as $300 a whack!! (Not to mention the near riot that occurred in Taiwan last month when shoppers stampeded in order to get their hands on one and sent 30 people to the hospital.)

Of course, the plastics industry is not happy about this. They say that it's not their plastic bags that are the problem (even though they can take up to 500 years to break down in a landfill and require millions of gallons of oil to produce) - it's people's behaviors. That's right. It's the public's fault as usual. The makers of plastic bags say that we need to recycle more, but I say that we need to start taking the 3 R's to heart and start focusing on reducing the amount of goods we consume and stop using recycling as the answer that makes everything OK. And because of that I think selling reusable grocery bags is a great idea which is why I wish I weren't so cynical about it.

See, I understand the need for making things fun and creating a buzz so that people tear themselves away from their televisions, computers, cell phones, etc. and take an interest in something other than themselves. I understand that we are facing a crisis as we try and figure out how to dispose of, without causing even more damage to our precious planet, the approximately 100 billion plastic bags we as Americans throw away each year (and recycle less than 1 percent of). I guess I'm just a bit of a romantic. I wish that people would take action, not because it's the "in" thing to do, after all fads fade away, but because it's the right thing to do; the necessary thing.

***This post also appears today over at the Soccer Mom Vote.

Discrimination Knows No Time Limit

I'm over at The Soccer Mom Vote today writing about the pay discrimination suit that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court a couple of weeks ago. Let me know what you think :)

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And on a completely different note, I'd like to share a little conversation my four-year-old and I had yesterday . . .

Me: Can you please help me clean up these toys?

Four-Year-Old: I don't want to help you clean up.

Me: Well, it wasn't really a question. You need to help me clean up these toys.

FYO: I said I don't want to!

Me: Don't speak to me like that! You can either help me clean up or you can have a time out in your room.

FYO: (with an evil glint in his eye) You know, sometimes I like it when you go to work, Mommy.

Me: Well, sometimes I like being at work . . . Now help me clean up.

Still Raining . . .

Well, it's been two solid days of rain (again!) and it's cold and I really don't like cold, rainy days. But I'm going out with my sister tonight for her second-to-last girls' night out as a single lady (her last girls' night out will be on Wednesday when my other sister is in town and we take her out just three days before her big day!) and that will be fun. (We even bought matching handbags!)

But it seems that my gardening plans for the weekend have been put on hold. My boys are literally running laps in my house because they're looking for some kind of outlet for their energy. And, oh yes, I still can't kick this cold I've had since last week.

On the plus side, my husband and I rented an amazing movie last night - Little Children. It stars Kate Winslet as a stay-at-home mom who has an affair with a stay-at-home dad. It's really about people who's lives have spun out of control and whether or not they really want to take back control and live with the choices they've made. It's a drama and it's pretty dark (in the way that American Beauty was), but there are plenty of lines that had me (and my husband) literally laughing out loud.

The movie was up for a couple of Academy Awards (not sure if it won any) and I must say that it stayed very true to the novel it's based on. I read the novel by Tom Perrotta more than a year ago and it was fabulous. It started a little slow, but once I got into it a little bit I couldn't put it down. The movie is the same way. An excellent movie and I highly recommend it.

Oh, and I posted my monthly contribution over at The Soccer Mom Vote. It's a little piece on children and health care in the United States. Some of the stats I found were so disheartening. I couldn't believe how many children are without adequate health care coverage. And it's something that I and so many of my friends take for granted. I certainly couldn't afford to take my children to the doctor without it. (It's hard enough for many of us just to afford the portion of the premiums that our employers don't pay!) So if you're interested, click on over and be sure to check out some of the other posts as well. There have been some very good ones recently that will get you thinking.

Big Brother or Strictly Safety?

I'm blogging over at The Soccer Mom Vote today, so click on over and check me out!!

Have a great Monday!!

It's TIme to Rise Up, Ladies!

I'm blogging over at The Soccer Mom Vote today if anyone is interested. It's a great community of women who take turns blogging about all kinds of social issues, politics, current events, etc. I've really enjoyed the discussions over there and this is my first post. I'll be posting on the 19th of every month and maybe even adding a little diddy here and there throughout the month as well (if they'll let me!) I've already got like three topics in mind that I want to talk about!

Other than that we're getting ready for the big move. We still have so much to do; it's more than a little overwhelming, but I can't wait to get in there!!

The only other news to report is that I was catching up on my magazine reading today. I was more than a month behind on The Nation, but it was worth the wait . . . My name is in the December 25th issue!! I'm so excited! Now I won't leave you in suspense - it wasn't for anything I wrote. It was because I made a contribution to the magazine last year (besides the subscription itself) and they list all their donors at the end of the year. But still! It was my name! In a magazine! I'm excited!! (Not as excited as I was when I got my first byline in a newspaper, but still) I'm keeping it for posterity . . .

And I'll pack it tomorrow ;)