It seems like every time I pick up a newspaper these days, including The Herald, pages are filled with stories about child molestation, sexual perversion, and other bizarre stories that are painful to read but need to be printed.
Locally, The Herald carried a story on the front page Saturday about a former area music teacher in Grove City and stage manager at Westminster College who was charged with secretly filming sex acts by four boys at a camp north of New York City where he was the camp counselor. Remember when you could send your kids to camp and feel confident about their safety and their guidance?
Sunday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette published a story about a well-respected Mount Lebanon High School teacher and tennis coach who police said solicited an undercover agent who was posing as a 14-year-old girl online. It’s another of these sad, sad stories.
In my 34 years at The Herald, it’s my guess we have had more of these kinds of stories in the last three years than in my first 31. Theories abound, but I’ve got one and I’m sticking to it. Put technology at the top of the list.
I think that most of these perversions have been a part of our society for years, but before the Internet, people with such problems didn’t have such an open opportunity. VCRs gave owners access to all kinds of XXX-rated films, and the advent of Internet online chats and other sexually-explicit Web sites have pushed the doors wide open.
With that increased activity has come more sting operations and other investigations by police, attempts at more control by concerned parents, and more willingness by society to bring these psychos to justice.
Readers and other callers ask me why we’re “obsessed” with reporting such news. First off, I don’t think we’re the ones who are obsessed. Newspapers shouldn’t sweep such a disturbing problem under the carpet, especially when it involves young children.
The problem won’t disappear, as some seem to think, if newspapers quit publishing such stories. Raising awareness of the severity and frequency of it is a major step in the right direction.
Jones book signing is Thursday
Retired Col. Donald Jones came to my office at The Herald last week bearing a gift — a signed copy of his book “The Path That Was Set for Me,” published locally by Green Street Press of Hermitage.
I had given the final edit to his manuscript during the winter and early spring, and it’s fascinating to see the final product.
It’s a transformation of raw text into book format, complete with photos, index, and a host of other helpful appendices.
The nearly 300-page book, which sells for $20, is an inspirational recap of the colonel’s exemplary life, which started in the coal mines of Indiana, Pa. It retraces his journey, including his high school days after moving to Farrell, his acceptance of a basketball scholarship to Niagara University, his decorated 28-year Army career as a Green Beret, and his successful venture into private industry after retiring from the military.
After chatting a little about his book, we headed for lunch, where we reminisced about Farrell, about all of the work that he had channeled into The Path, and his upcoming Special Forces reunion in Las Vegas, where the book should be a big hit.
Locally, he’s having a book signing at Farrell Community Center’s Minority Health Room on Thursday. If you can’t make it to the signing, but are interested in the colonel’s book, you can call him at 724-662-0606 or 407-461-9048, or contact him via e-mail at donjones12@aol.com
The drinking age debate
A heated battle is looming on the horizon as presidents from some of the nation’s most prestigious colleges are planning to open a national debate about lowering the drinking age to 18.
The presidents, including ones from Duke and Ohio State, favor the lowering of the age because they believe it will lessen the want for binge drinking that has plagued campuses for decades.
Not everyone agrees with that premise, including Miami University President Donna Shalala, and of course, Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The latter believes that the lowering of the drinking age will increase traffic fatalities.
One of the compromises mentioned by several involved, and cited in a recent editorial by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, is lowering the age to 19, which for the most part would eliminate legal drinking by students in high school.
Factoring into the discussion from other groups will be the age-old argument that if you can risk your life fighting a war for your country at 18, you should be able to have a beer at that age as well. It will be interesting to watch this forum unfold.
Jim Raykie is the editor of The Herald and writes this column on Mondays. His e-mail is jraykie@sharonherald.com
Opinion
Related Photos
Running sexual perversion stories raises awareness
An Editor's Notes
- Opinion
-
-
Juicy tips will be far fewer without ‘Scoop’ on the phone
I enjoyed calling him Scoop. I was the newspaper guy, but for more years than I can remember, Gary Douglas was at the other end of phone calls on a regular basis.
“Did you hear about this? Did you hear about that? Did you hear about so-and-so? Better check this out. I’ll bet you haven’t heard about this.”
That usually was the flow of the conversation. Most of the time he was right. Some of the tips turned into stories that were fit to print, and others not so much.
-
The only thing we have to fear is fear-mongering
To hear some folks tell it, it’s no longer morning in America, it’s five minutes to midnight. They say the United States, once the greatest nation on Earth, is today on a glide path to the ash heap of history.
-
Super Bowl Sunday brings a super boost for the local economy
The game is more than a glitzy international event. It serves as a one-day boon to local economies like ours here at home.
-
Punxsutawney Phil, Mitt and a litany of bad GOP hopefuls
Here are some thoughts from a guy who doesn’t put a whole lot of stock in rascally rodents that make weather forecasts.
-
In Ed Likovich’s yard, apples don’t fall very far from the tree
Adage tells us that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. It really applies to the Likovich family of Hermitage, specifically Ed the father and teacher and Ed the son and student.
-
A smaller state legislature? Don’t hold your breath
Don't tell me that our state General Assembly is finally going to do what should have been done many years ago – cut the size of the Legislature.
-
A sad end to life: History will determine JoePa’s legacy
I had the privilege, yes privilege and honor, of meeting Joe Paterno several times in my life, both as a student at Penn State and in my role as editor of The Herald. It was with a heavy heart when I learned that he was near death during the Mercer County Hall of Fame’s annual dinner at the Park Inn by Radisson Saturday, and that he had died Sunday.
-
OUR VIEW: Dearth of candidate interest defies worth of legislative races
In case you hadn’t noticed, this is an election year. Actually every year is, but this is one of the big ones. Sure, there’s some sort of presidential race going on, but that’s just a sideshow to where the real action in this year’s election is – or at least should be.
Voters across the country will be electing every member of the U.S. House of Representatives, and here in Mercer County voters will help decide who represents three state House districts. -
Hall of Fame weekend stirs memories of ‘good old days’
Is there anything better than reminiscing about the “good old days”? That’s why I love the Mercer County Hall of Fame’s annual induction weekend.
-
We couldn’t fool anyone - the neighborhood always snitched
An old African proverb tells us that it takes a village to raise a child. At least two books drawing lessons from the proverb have been written, including the most famous in 1996 by Hilary Clinton, “It Takes A Village: And Other Lessons Children Teach Us.”
- More Opinion Headlines
-
