The Timing is Perfect; a Teachable Moment

The current brouhaha about the arrest of Roman Polanski in Switzerland some thirty years after fleeing from the United States provides the perfect timing for a teachable moment. What has changed in our society since Polanski's despicable forcible rape of a thirteen year old child is the onset of the internet which gives thousands of immature pre-teen or early adolescent women-children the opportunity to display their bodies, some unclothed, into the public arena via U-tube et al. A walk through any shopping mall in America is instructive as well, because these children-women are readily on display wearing seductive clothing that many, if not most, adults consider age inappropriate. In short, these young people are susceptible to be preyed upon by all sorts of sexual predators in analogous fashion to the techniques employed by Polanski; treating a young teen as the adult she is not by flattery, alcohol and drugs. We are told that the child Polanski raped looked "older". The teachable moment here is that there is a responsibility issue here. It is incumbent upon the adult population to protect these children-women, not rape them. It is incumbent upon the adult population to assist these women-children in understanding how their actions and appearance may attract unwelcome and negative attention. The teachable moment includes the holding of Polanski responsible for the rape of a child.