The Associated Press reported last year that in some states sexual abuse is the main reason public school teachers lose their licenses. Colorado public schools are not exempt from the abuse problem. Professor Charol Shakeshaft of Hofstra University, among others, argues that up to 15 percent of all public school students nationally are the victims of sexual misconduct by a staff member, ranging from kissing to sexual intercourse, by the time they finish high school.

The evidence also suggests that from 1 percent to 5 percent of the teaching profession and up to 25 percent of all public school districts have problems of sexual abuse.^[1]

Why then, is the Church the focus of a sexual abuse scandal, and not the varied school districts? It is because the public school system, as part of the government, enjoy partial or complete immunity from lawsuits in most areas. There are greater limits on how long after the alleged abuse the report can come, and on how much you can get in damages. Basically, it does not make financial sense to sue the schools, but it does to sue the Church.

Beyond that though, I strongly suspect that part of it is simply that a parent suing the school district would make local news, perhaps even state news, but would not garner national news focus. You would not see the ripple effect as case after case comes to light before a national media, because the national media would never report it as heavily. Thus, it is left to a relative backwater like Catholic News Agency to publish this study. Imagine if this was just before the scandal started, and a report came out claiming “that up to 15 percent” of all Catholic School children had been abused. This would have been a headline story across the country. Yet when it is about the public school system, no one hears about it. Was the priority really to “protect the children” or to attack the Church?

1. Catholic News Agency. “Teacher says potentially far more lucrative, to sue the Catholic Church, or any church or private organization, than it is to sue the local public school district” www.catholicnewsagency.com 2006-01-23. http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=5813

For all those who would tout the state as a check on the flaws in some parents, look at the sort of thing that can still happen after the state takes over. After removing her from abuse in a prior home, they totally ignored reports of abuse in her new home.^[1]

Admittedly, some parents go wrong. The adoptive ones in this very case did afterall. But I do not see why we should trust a flawed, human institution, made up of flawed human beings, to do a better job than the parents do. I think this case rather emphasizes why. Time and time again, various people in contact with this little girl contacted the State to ask for intervention. Time and time again the State failed, but because these people trusted the State to determine and to act, nothing was done.

1. Mrs. Michelle Malkin. “Blogging for Haleigh” www.michellemalkin.com 2006-01-21 http://michellemalkin.com/archives/004337.htm

Dr. Vij Sodera’s One Small Speck to Man: the evolution myth looks to be a tome worth owning. Unfortunately, for ease of wish listing, it is not available (at least not yet) from Amazon. You can read about it (and order it) here.^[1]

1. Mr. Dennis Wagner. Review of One Small Speck to Man: the evolution myth. The ID Update. 2006-01-21 http://www.arn.org/blogs/index.php/literature/2006/01/21/one_small_speck_to_man_the_evolution_myth

South Dakota is considering stepping up to the plate in the fight to overturn Roe v. Wade.^[1] The state legislature has before it a bill to criminalize abortion. Though it has been vetoed once already, it was because of some technicalities, and lawmakers think that this version of it might become law.

Obviously such a bill will quickly be declared unconstitutional, if it does pass. These lawmakers believe that with Chief Justice John Roberts and possibly soon Judge Samuel Alito, on the court, things may have changed enough to overturn Roe v. Wade. By my count, we are still one vote short, but I wish them luck none-the-less.

1. Jodi Schwan. “SD Legislature To Consider Abortion Ban” Keloland TV. 2006-01-22 http://www.keloland.com/NewsDetail2817.cfm?Id=0,45410

ZENIT reminds us that the population levels are falling not just in Europe, but around the world in countries like Japan and South Korea.^[1] This is not a new concern.^[2] It is, however, news to me that efforts are underway to address the problem. While I have heard of a slogan in Australia along the lines of a child for each parent and one for the state, that is the only example of recognizing the problem I am aware of.

We have yet to truly face this here. Not in the sense that it is not a problem, it is, but in the sense that we lack the will to do anything about it. Our Social Security program was designed with the presumption that there would always be more people working than retired. When 20% of our population is over 65, will that still be true? When our population starts to see the kinds of reduction that Europe is seeing, will it remain true? I highly doubt it. If I am right, if that assumption becomes false, we must reform, no, more than reform, change our Social Security system. More, we must do so before it becomes true, because as it nears falsehood, Social Security will become an even greater tax burden on the working, crippling their finances.

1. ZENIT. “Time to Defuse a Demographic Bomb” Innovative Media, Inc. 2006-01-21 http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=83171
2. Mr. Luke Schierer. “20050502-1503″ Random Unfinished Thoughts. 2005-05-02 http://www.schierer.org/~luke/log/20050502-1503/20050502-1503