Over the next few blog entries I'm going to depart from discussing leadership and technology discussions as it relates to business and instead focus on how they relate at home.
News magazine shows like 60 Minutes, PrimeTime, and Dateline have been popular for many, many years. Sometimes they expose corruption in large companies or government and sometimes some helpful consumer hints from John Stossel. I stopped watching them when the murder mysteries and celebrity interviews dominated their line-up. They had this powerful medium and audience yet focused on gossip.
That's why I was so pleased to see the show "To Catch a Predator", they were finally doing something worthwhile with their airtime. "To Catch a Predator" is a disgusting display of humanity's worst in sin behavior yet it is one of the most important shows you'll ever watch.
The Show's Premise
NBC teams up with local law enforcement and a non-profit group called Perverted Justice. They setup in a home in a neighborhood that probably looks very much like the one you live in. One of them poses as a decoy in an Internet chat room, normally acting as a 13 year old male or female. It doesn't take long for an adult, anywhere from 25 to 75 years old, to contact the decoy attempting to strike up a chat conversation. In just a few minutes the adult predator turns the conversation to sex and lewd acts. I won't go into it details but there are things discussed that only the devil himself could imagine.
In order to help with prosecution the decoy asks the predator to bring specific items over to the house such as a cherry limeade or a particular flavor of ice cream. When the predator arrives at the home they always bring the specific items. The items, along with the log of the chat discussion, makes it easy for the police to show their intent to solicit sex from a minor. Once the predator is in the door then Chris Hansen and the cameras come out to confront the pervert. Amazingly very few run or hide their face. They admit their wrong and make up endless excuses or wild promises that this is their first time to do this.
The predators range from 25 to 75 years old, always men (regardless of whether the decoy was male or female). They are blue collar, white collar, single, married, repairmen, programmers (one from Nickelodeon!) and even pastors and rabbis! Ugh. Even more amazing is that many are familiar with the show or were even caught before on prior episodes, yet the lure of their deviant behavior overrides common sense.
Why is this show important?
Well apart from the obvious (they are catching and prosecuting bad guys) it is educating the public (you) as to the very real danger that exists on the Internet. If you have a child (typically between 8 - 16 years old) with unmonitored access to the Internet then you might as well be driving them up and down the red light district with a "For Sale" sign on them. Children do not need to look for trouble on the Internet, the predators are looking for them.
If you haven't watched "To Catch a Predator" then you need to watch at least one episode. It will scare you into action at home to put controls on your child's Internet usage. Fortunately there are ways to keep your kids safe online while allowing them a few freedoms as well. Over the next few blog entries I'll explain my personal experience and learnings as a father of two children (11 and 15) fighting the battle of the Internet in our home.
Curtis S