Once again, Republicans want to solve a complex and nuanced problem by making a big, flashy gesture that merely distracts from the real issue (Iraq, anyone?).
State Rep. Joel Kleefisch, R-Oconomowoc, recently introduced a bill that would require child molesters and violent sex offenders to attach bright green license plates to their cars. Our gut reaction may be to support this bill, as we naturally want all child molesters to feel the shame and humiliation that they deserve. However, a more thoughtful look at this issue proves this proposed bill is not only a generally useless solution, but it could actually perpetuate child molestation.
The most glaring problem with the bill, should it pass, is that it would give parents a false sense of security and encourages them to look in the wrong direction when protecting their children. Though family members or friends of the family commit the vast majority of child molestations, only incidents of stranger abductions receive any media attention.
These green license plates will only perpetuate the myth that most child molesters are strangers, and parents may feel their children are secure if they merely keep them away from those with green license plates. Moreover, parents can already find the names of registered sex offenders online.
According to Patricia Coffey, UW-Madison professor of psychology and criminal justice, ""This approach perpetuates the myth of the stranger lurking in the park and in cars and does not help people focus on reasonable protection from offenders the victim's know and the parents would never suspect (clergy, coaches, etc.).""
Furthermore, those who would receive green license plates are already registered and therefore following the rules and remaining visible. Coffey asserts this may actually encourage sex offenders to go underground for fear of humiliation and violence against them. She said, ""They may disappear, resulting in no supervision, which is happening all over the country.""
The bottom line is that parents need to protect children from not just strangers but all adults, and when they find a family member or friend guilty of molestation, they need to report it.
There is a hypocrisy in American attitudes regarding child molesters, as this proposed bill proves. We are quick to attack stranger-predators, yet many parents and adults stay quiet when a family member commits molestation, and even some religions in the United States preach a veil of silence where sex-violations against children are concerned.
On the Oprah Winfrey Show, psychologist Dr. Keith Ablow said: ""When [the molester is] someone we care about, we want this person to get help. When it happens to someone we don't know, we want the person put in jail for life or killed.""
Only about one-third of all molestations are ever reported, and 40 to 50 percent of victimized girls are molested by a family member, meaning there are many offenders out there that simply get away with it. These attitudes must be addressed by not only those in power, but by all families and communities.
If passed, this bill would also take money away from programs that could actually make children safer. Coffey said, ""We need significantly more money for probation agents supervising sex offenders in the community, more resources focused on prevention, more resources for treatment to reduce the risk of further offending, more supervised community living situations for offenders needing a higher level of monitoring.""
A simple solution can never be found for a nuanced, layered issue, and we cannot afford to make this mistake when the safety of children is concerned. Instead of trying to slap a Band-Aid over the issue, we should find solutions that approach it from all angles to really reduce the amount of sexual offense against children.
