Hi everybody,

I was talking to the president of the Georgia chapter of RSOL last night. She asked me if I had any ideas for talks that could be given at this years conference.
I said that i would love to hear the opposing side. I would like to hear from the proponents of the laws, but specifically with their supporting evidence as to their belief that these laws and policies are actually doing anything helpful. I'll be the first to admit that I'm willing to accept the punishment if it could be demonstrated that 'WE' are out there soliciting, running amok, violating, etc.
My own personal anecdotal evidence suggests the opposite. I know approximately 10 people that have been released from prison for various sex crimes. And I know of not one that has committed a new offense, not even a simple probation violation. Also in my weekly treatment, people are cycling through that are new and that are graduating. And I can think of two that have had pretty silly probation violations. But none have reoffended.
I was listening to a podcast this morning that covered something that sounded identical to our plight. They were discussing two different groups of people that aren't based on evidence and have gotten various degrees of legislation or regulations passed. Then they do, I guess, what would be considered scope creep. They aimed pretty low. Shooting for just something amounted to simple oversight. But when they got that 'foot in the door', that allowed them to use the argument to build on their cause. Allowing them to use their minor victory to gain greater ground because it amounted to 'if the government says it's real, then it must be ok' type of an argument.
My point here is that we are dealing with an uneducated public. The public is emotionally charged about the issue. This public is also unwilling to change their stance of a subject, even when presented with data, maybe even overwhelming data, to change what they think.
Putting this on a specific subject, last week this same podcast covered a topic about different types of learning: aural, visual, or kinesthetic (by doing). I was even taught that people have different types of learning. But there isn't evidence to support that people have learning styles. In fact, if you use a style that goes against what the person believes, maybe it makes them struggle - see things in a different way, and that might help them learn it. Ultimately the research suggests that using all three is by far the most effective method. And further still, having the student teach the subject has even more benefit.
I say all of that to point out that to change people with a preconceived idea about a subject is challenging. You have to first break down what they already believe. You have to get them to see that their way isn't factual. Yet even when presented with this evidence, people will still believe their already formed ideas. They may even dig in and use every logical fallacy to support their ideas. It's like you're challenging their identity. And that is very hard for people to let go.

This is my morning rant - Have a great day everyone