Saturday 24 February 2018

Saturday

Rachel writes today about the dark net - something so sinister and something that many people (me included) know absolutely nothing about.   Yes, of course, I have read about it and about the recent cases she talks of.   Yes, of course, I am appalled by it.   I think the sentences handed out are about right - the damage done in the name of sex  - particularly to children and young people - is irrepairable.   Witness the men in their fifties and their grief, their broken spirit, in the recent trial of the football coach, also found guilty

What makes it all so hard, certainly for people of my generation, is that in our day life was relatively untroubled by such things.   I am sure I am right when I say that almost all of us (I am speaking of both sexes here) have at some time in our lives been subject to some form of sexual harrassment.   If we are lucky then it has been minor but some of us have experienced worse than that.  And we have had to live with it throughout our lives.   But this business of the dark net is something else, something I certainly find hard to take in.   And it is of course the downside of the advances made in such things as computers.

When I was a child our free time was on the whole (unless it was pouring with rain) spent out of doors, in the fields, climbing trees, searching for tadpoles, fishing, playing in the river.   In the winter we would have village magic lantern shows, threepenny 'hops' on Tuesday evenings in the village hall (all the boys stood at one end and all the girls at the other and only the bravest boys dare ask the girls for a dance!)   How innocent it all seems by today's standards, and yet I am sure that to a lesser extent these things went on because there always will be 'sad' individuals who get sexual kicks out of such behaviour.

Oh for an innocent world.   But then I don't suppose such a thing has ever existed and never will.   It is just that whereas once upon a time it was just individuals, now such people can reach thousands on this wretched dark net.

I can do absolutely nothing about it, so I shall try to ignore it.   Is that cowardly?   Maybe it is.   I am fully aware of it but in the days I have remaining in my life I shall try to concentrate on the good.  How it will be possible I don't know.   In addition to all I have written here there are the images of Syrian children, many of them babes in arms, covered in blood and being dug out of the rubble.   And what happened to the people in Yemen who have suddenly disappeared from being a news story after months of being in the headlines?   I don't suppose for an instant that their problems have gone away.
 
 

11 comments:

jinxxxygirl said...

I know of the dark web Pat or at least i have heard the name before.. But i think i heard it not in conjunction with sex but bad people stealing others identities... I try to protect my identity as best i can and thats really all i can do.. I can only affect whats in my little sphere of influence and i have to live with that..

Your childhood sounded much like mine Pat.. Playing outside constantly.. in the little creek.. climbing trees.. blowing bubbles....in the woods ...picking flowers for mom.. I don't know bored was never in my vocabulary .. then there was books and coloring..loved crayons.. Hugs! deb

Joanne Noragon said...

I had a happy childhood, Weave. But now as an adult I listen to friends tell me of the horror of their childhoods. Sexual abuse by a father, step-father, brother, relative, friend. Emotional abuse by older friends, step-mothers, real mothers. I know of the dark web as a sexual predator and trader, as identity theft, as money laundering. In short, the world is good for those of us who try to keep it that way, awful for those who fall victim to bad, and hopefully, deadly dangerous to those who are evil.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

Some of us were very lucky with our childhoods, Pat. Unfortunately it wasn't the same for everyone - there must have been a reason why the NSPCC was set up as long ago as 1895.

Mac n' Janet said...

It is horrible isn't it. I'm sure there have always been sick individuals, but there seems to be more of them. How can you injure a child, sexually or otherwise I will never understand. We had a teacher in middle school who was arrested for molesting boys in his class.

yellowtulip118@gmail.com said...

It may feel cowardly, but I think sometimes we have to practice self preservation by switching off from the horrors of the world, especially if we are powerless to stop them.

Darwin Girl said...

Mmmm, it does seem that since people can hide behind a computer, their daring and evil can shine. People seem to find a weird kind of power when hiding behind a keyboard. Switching off from the world can be a good thing to do. Brave topic to talk about.

Red said...

Key word you use is minor. It seems that there is a challenge to evaluate the misbehavior.

Alphie Soup said...

The dark web is there for dark purposes and although dark and nasty things went on in the past, today they have a lovely platform, it's called the internet.
Alphie

Heather said...

The world is in a sorry state and it is sometimes hard to believe that the majority of people are good, as we only hear about those who are not. I feel very small and useless as there is nothing I can do to improve matters.

Hilary said...

Selfishly, I am glad that I grew up when I did, and glad I raised my children when I did...........I feel very badly for my grand children though....this is not the world I would wish for them.

Cro Magnon said...

I remember, as a small boy, playing on some swings in the big field behind our house, and a bigger boy trying to kiss the local policeman's daughter. The girl ran off, and a few minutes later her father turned-up and gave the boy are really hard slap. That's how things were!