Hello, my name is Elle and I am a Californian, interested in food in prisons. I have no idea how this works or if you will see this but, reading your letter in April 2023, I'm just writing to say that I HEAR YOU and thank you for writing about your experience.
"I’m British. I do sarcasm very well." Indeed the British do, but generally its a cheap shot that follows, rather than adherence to the Wildean famous punchline, but then again Wilde had a predilection for under age dalliances so maybe best not to invoke arguably his most memorable quotation.
Your question asked, somewhat unfairly, i thought, and directed at a person incarcerated, made it rhetorical. I referred to you as a vigilante rather than vigilant, and your rather superficial question does not lead me away from that supposition. Well over 90% of so-called sexual abuse is within family structures or trusted individuals, which suggests you'll need to keep a close eye on your brothers and sisters cousins etc, rather than worry too much about the wider landscape. Consulting any LEA statistics you care to look up you'll find that more than 80% of so-called CSAM is self generated..... again indicating that the home and parenting failure is the problem not the wider landscape. You actually want to safeguard your children from an imagined predatory landscape, you'll need to ban (anti) social media, ban sexual, LGBTQ, and relationship teaching from primary school level, reintroduce chaperoning, and clutch your pearls tightly (as a British person you'll be aware of that phrase). Alternatively, perhaps if societies stopped treating everyone as a victim of something, there might be a conversation to be had around personal responsibility, Age of Consent, and a statute of limitations for historic crime. Societies continue to infantalize their citizens, whilst constantly expanding the definition of sexual abuse, and push the age of childhood into their late teens or early to mid 20s,whilst ignoring biological puberty arriving earlier than ever.
Now to my real world experience - I had my first relationship that would these days be classified as sexual in primary school..... as did many others of my generation. I lost my virginity before i was a teenager, and had what would be deemed a criminal relationship with a much older person for a few years. At no time did it occur to me to wander down to a police station and turn either myself in or that person, (I have never needed the state to take charge of my life thinking it knows best). It also did not mess up my life in any way at all. Many years later i discussed it all calmly with my parents, got on with my life and became as successful as i wanted to be. No hangups, no victim hood, just a life lived vicariously from start to now. As a prison visitor over many years i was fortunate enough to form a good rapport with a senior guard who over an ale said, "the only difference between me and the people i guard, is that i haven't been caught yet." He was alluding to the fact that we are all criminals in some way, minor or major, based on ever increasing layers of law. The hysteria of today is a far cry from earlier times, and achieves nothing, save more hysterical responses.
RSS
Indeed the British do, but generally its a cheap shot that follows, rather than adherence to the Wildean famous punchline, but then again Wilde had a predilection for under age dalliances so maybe best not to invoke arguably his most memorable quotation.
Your question asked, somewhat unfairly, i thought, and directed at a person incarcerated, made it rhetorical.
I referred to you as a vigilante rather than vigilant, and your rather superficial question does not lead me away from that supposition.
Well over 90% of so-called sexual abuse is within family structures or trusted individuals, which suggests you'll need to keep a close eye on your brothers and sisters cousins etc, rather than worry too much about the wider landscape.
Consulting any LEA statistics you care to look up you'll find that more than 80% of so-called CSAM is self generated..... again indicating that the home and parenting failure is the problem not the wider landscape.
You actually want to safeguard your children from an imagined predatory landscape, you'll need to ban (anti) social media, ban sexual, LGBTQ, and relationship teaching from primary school level, reintroduce chaperoning, and clutch your pearls tightly (as a British person you'll be aware of that phrase).
Alternatively, perhaps if societies stopped treating everyone as a victim of something, there might be a conversation to be had around personal responsibility, Age of Consent, and a statute of limitations for historic crime. Societies continue to infantalize their citizens, whilst constantly expanding the definition of sexual abuse, and push the age of childhood into their late teens or early to mid 20s,whilst ignoring biological puberty arriving earlier than ever.
Now to my real world experience - I had my first relationship that would these days be classified as sexual in primary school..... as did many others of my generation. I lost my virginity before i was a teenager, and had what would be deemed a criminal relationship with a much older person for a few years. At no time did it occur to me to wander down to a police station and turn either myself in or that person, (I have never needed the state to take charge of my life thinking it knows best). It also did not mess up my life in any way at all. Many years later i discussed it all calmly with my parents, got on with my life and became as successful as i wanted to be. No hangups, no victim hood, just a life lived vicariously from start to now. As a prison visitor over many years i was fortunate enough to form a good rapport with a senior guard who over an ale said, "the only difference between me and the people i guard, is that i haven't been caught yet." He was alluding to the fact that we are all criminals in some way, minor or major, based on ever increasing layers of law. The hysteria of today is a far cry from earlier times, and achieves nothing, save more hysterical responses.