Soap box time again so you know the ground rules...if you don't like what I have to say you can just click that little message link and tell me all about it. And frankly, I don't care if you agree with me or not...No, this isn't about American Idol (glad to know Kelly won though). This is yet another tirade about parents, their children, and the Internet.

I was watching 48 Hours last night after American Idol finished and watched yet another story of a girl who was seduced by an older man online and later abused. Once again the parents takes no blame for not knowing what their child was doing on the Internet. Now, I am NOT saying that what this man did to the girl was right or correct or anything. I am NOT defending him in any way whatsoever. I just find it ridiculous that this girl's mother does not have the slightest bit of anger at herself for not paying closer attention to what her child was doing on the Internet. However, this man made it relatively easy for this child to fly to...get this...GREECE...to be with him. That's right, this wasn't a local thing...it was an international thing.

An open computer in a child's bedroom is not a cool thing. If a parent does not know what their child is doing online then they are part of the problem. The computer should be in an open area where parents can check on what their children are doing. So they can pass by and look over their child's shoulder and see what sites they are viewing or if they are in a chat room. AOL has parental controls that will limits sites that the children can go to, prevent them from receiving instant messages, and keep them out of chat rooms. Now, I know AOL isn't foolproof and I know that no single system is foolproof. But if you stick a computer with Internet access in your child's bedroom and don't watch or pay attention to what they are doing then you are part of the problem and you bear some of the blame. If you trust your kids THAT much then you are trusting too much.

Now here's part two of my rant. The story went on to show how when this guy went to court and the mother went to Greece to testify at the guy's trial and the judge said that there could be no trial without her daughter. The woman went into hysterics about how her daughter was going to have a mental collapse over this. Well, I have to say this...I agree with the judges. I was one of the few people who felt that a plea bargain in the John Walker Lindh trial was the best thing (even if I didn't agree with the sentence which I thought should be tougher). Would we rather have the trial, the re-trial on appeal, the second appeal trial and so forth over and over and over? A plea agreement was the best thing. In this case, the daughter's testimony was the crucial evidence needed.

What I also found interesting was that the mother was so sure that her daughter was just going to collapse under the weight of the moment and having to be in the presence of this man again. As it was a closed case, the mother, the camera crew, the daughter's shrink, etc all had to wait outside. The mother was hysterical that her daughter was going to breakdown in the courtroom and be a blubbering mass and no one would be there to assist her. Well the daughter, from what we could see through the keyhole of the room courtesy of the camera, the daughter was doing pretty well and even admitted to still loving the man that kidnapped her.

Finally, the man was sentenced to nine years in Greek jail. The mother was livid and said that if this was the United States he would have gotten twenty to twenty five years. Sorry, honey. You were in Greece and at the mercy of the Greek penal system. Some people think our jail sentences are too harsh. So face it. You have to play by a new set of rules and you don't even know what they are.

No, I am not advocating that parents turn into Draconian warlords and watch every little thing that their child does. All I am saying is that just keep an eye on them. Take a little look over their shoulder. Make sure you at least have an inkling as to what your child is doing. You can even go back and check the cookies and temporary internet files just so you can keep tabs on them.

As you can tell this really pissed me off....