a quick observation from the piece comes at the end of it when the reporter asked the gentleman, if he would want a person convicted of having sex with a six year old moving across the street from a school! And I thought his response was good and all, but there was an opportunity to educate, and it was unfortunately lost! That is the extreme case and what the public thinks of first when they hear the term, sex offender! That is why it is so easy for the government, schools, the general public, etc. to do what they are doing across the US when dealing with sex offenders. That is a huge problem with all of this and one of the first things that needs to be changed, or talked about, public image! Sex crimes and convictions run a wide spectrum of color, but under the law and public image, it is all the same, strangers riding around in vans with candy in their pockets looking for little children to abduct, and who will never stop! How do we fight that perception? Unfortunately, until I got involved in this, that was my perception as well.

It would be ideal if NARSOL could find a way to prevent these one-sided articles in the first place, so each article/story is written from the outset with the right, balanced information. Only then will the tide turn. Right now, the equivalent of political negative advertising is not near being matched by fact-based “counterprogramming.”