I can honestly say I feel the Internet itself enables sick, twisted men and women. But for parents to allow their children to misuse the Internet is their fault, not the child’s, or the predator’s.

I read about a parent who was suing “MySpace” for something that happened to her 13-year-old daughter. My feeling is it should be the child suing the parent for negligance. I am a parent and be darned if my child, at the age of 12, would even talk, dress, or act provocatively, never mind attract men on the Internet by caking on makeup or lying about her age.

What is wrong with parents today?

We do still have some say, and if we give that up, then it is us, as parents, who fail our children. We are then the problem – not the Internet, MySpace, Yahoo, or the predator, but we, the parents.

The solution is to stop putting parenting on the back burner, and step up and take responsibility for improving parenting skills.

I also work for a mental health agency and see scenarios like that day in, and day out. When perpetrators are family or friends, parents aren’t always to blame, and most of the time are as hurt as the child.

But when it is someone off the Internet, parents feel better by blaming “Joe Schmo.”

Cristie Caron, Poland

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