Why is this lady so riled up? None of these regulations for sex offenders are punishment according to the courts, so I don't see why it is such a big deal with her.

rewdiazepam.

I heard about this - yeah what is the bid deal lady? She cried - go figure

Ha I know, she just goes and gets it changed, where is the harm?

Its all about the "stigma" of the label. Sounds scary but when it is a reality in your life you learn and educate and live and love.

Reminds me of yesturday. My neighbor has a little girl probably 3 yrs old. While she was over i saw a snake. I picked it up and said not to be afraid. I asked her to pet him. She did. Its all about showing and teaching others and educating them about what to be afraid of and what not.

So please teach your children and others and educate them. They not need to be afraid of the "big bad wolf"!

teaching a child not to be afraid of a snake goes against millions of years of evolution, let's just hope the next "safe" snake she comes across isn't a rattlesnake.

Ok registered...you want to play semantics? Its bull. We teach and educate our children. I told her her was a garter snake. You missed the point completely! Its about knowing the differance between good and bad. Its about teaching whats right and wrong. Isnt that what life is about? You want to talk about rattlesnakes? I have been there. And i love my rattlesnake even though he poisoned my daughter!

I think what west is doing is great. Teaching kids to discern for themselves and not getting caught up in ewwww it's a snake kill it.

I think everyone here has good points. We have black snakes in our yard. They keep the rat population down and are harmless to people. We love our black snakes and encourage them to stay, but I would not pick one up.

We also have copperheads. A copperhead bite can put you in the hospital for a very long time. If I see a copperhead, I kill it. My black snakes and guinea hens help keep them away, too.

If I saw a garter snake, I would pick it up. They are squiggly and cute and nice to have around.

Now, here's question. If I were walking down a path in the woods and I saw a long, curved, round tube thing in my path and I was just about to step on it, what would I do? I know me. I would probably scream and jump out of its way. Then I would try to see what it was. What if it was a piece of rope and not a snake at all.

I think registered has a point that the initial response to the shape of a snake is hardwired into our system by millions of years of evolution. But West's point is that we need to educate children about what is harmful and what is not.

The analogy to the sex offender world is that most people never get past the initial response because no one has taught them that there are different kinds of snakes/sex offenders. Some are harmful, some are not. Some people who we think are harmful are not. Same is true for people who truly are at risk for harm, who seem harmless. The whole gamut exists here.

What is missing is the education.

I think one point that we are all forgetting here also is that the idea that sex offenders are all the boogy man is bogus - if we want to keep with the snake analogy - I do not mind snakes - but I would be afraid of it if I saw it inside my house. As we know most abuse is perpetrated by someone known to the victim. So the moral of that is to stop teaching children that strangers/outside snakes are something to be afraid of and inside snakes/acquaintances or family are not something to be ignored as a potential threat. Or better yet teach children to think for themselves and function in society instead of teaching and showing them that we should be afraid of everyone and everything.

Just curious registered - did you join just to answer back to West?

Education, education, education....this is so important. The myths must be dispelled, in order to teach families and children where the true threats are, and steps we can take to prevent a child from being abused. We also must allow people to seek help BEFORE a child has been harmed. This is why I love StopItNow! And B4-U-Act, they want to give that help.

Stranger danger is so over rated when it comes to sex crimes against children. I agree with advocate, we need to teach kids to generally be aware do they can stop problems in the family and acquaintances AND stranger danger. What we have right now is a major focus on stranger danger but very little talking about the 93% of perpetrators in child sexual abuse cases.

"I love my rattlesnake even though he poisoned my daughter!"

Case closed.

Can you explain that registered? You are singling out Wests posts even though others are agreeing with her - what do you mean case closed? was there a case? Are you saying that children should be afraid of strangers? Statistics say otherwise ....

I'm saying that children should be afraid of rattlesnakes.

Yeah, we have to be real about this. No one really understands the sex drive. Its such a different experience for everyone. We do know that once those pleasure centers kick in, the thinking brain shuts down. You don't even recognize it. Anyone could be a snake! I've done things I'm not proud of...though not illegal.

What's that old song, "You always hurt the one you love." Why do we do that? Because our closest relationships are our most complicated, the most intimate. Isn't this where we express our sexuality, in close, intimate relationships? Get too close and the thinking brain is shut down in favor of the pleasure-filled survival brain.

The only way to change this old, old pattern is to strengthen the thinking brain to recognize situations that we as a society have decided are not acceptable. Its not fair to anyone for someone to be made a "victim" just because we are afraid to talk about these topics. It is very possible to grow past our programming. But, truth be told, it is always a challenge.