Go back to Words & Wit pageSAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 7, 1994 -- The watery deaths of young Michael and Alex Smith are horrific enough. The story of these two innocents, first believed to have been kidnapped at random, followed by the unspeakable revelation that they were drowned by their mother, is too compelling to put down now that it is known who dunnit.
But while families may be drawn to their television sets in their quest to discover why Susan Smith killed Michael and Alex, America's morbidity has hit a new low. I refer to the televised spectacle of parents who have taken their children to John D. Long Lake, where Smith pushed her car, with the two innocents strapped in their safety seats. Neighbors of course turned out to the boys' funeral to grieve. That's only right. But those who have made a field trip out of the murder site -- and worse, brought their children to witness the nightmare spot where Susan Smith murdered her trusting babies -- demonstrate how morbid this country has become.
No doubt parents who have made a family pilgrimage to the lake see themselves as caring individuals who are showing their support. Perhaps this is their way of giving their children closure to a story that has gripped the nation. But the candles, flowers and toys that strew the lake also attest to the turn America's fascination with crimes against children has taken. Call it crime hypochondria.
Call it scaring children half to death. The lakeside memorial, at which numerous parents have brought their children, reminds me of a town meeting I attended earlier this year about a measure sponsored by Assemblywoman Barbara Alby. The measure, later signed by Gov. Wilson, gives the public access to information concerning convicted child molesters after they have been released from prison. Many parents brought their children to the meeting, which was bad enough, but worse, most were reluctant to remove the children from the area where child molestation cases were discussed in graphic detail; they only did so at Alby's insistence.
Some of the parents were victims of child abuse. Perhaps these public meetings were their way of exorcising the pain, a pain so great they did not see that they were inflicting it on their own children. Others no doubt believed that the more children know, the safer they will be. The psychic toll of this information -- kids constantly are informed of the bad things that happen to other children -- apparently is an acceptable price to pay for enhanced safety.
Informed is one thing. Some children today are hyper-informed. Two and three decades ago, children were warned to keep their fingers off the stove and don't talk to strangers. Today children are taught the good and bad ways of being touched, how to use a condom, and now some are shown the baleful spot where two children thought Lord knows what in their final moments. In an age when parents strive so hard to protect their children, they at times protect them from everything but fear. So what if they lose childhood's innocence, is the thinking, as long as they are safe.
Would it be any wonder -- it certainly would be ironic -- if the children of the children of the 60s and 70s turn out risk-averse and materialistic? The young years of today's parents were excessive perhaps in terms of trust and adventure and hedonism. The pendulum has swung, sadly, and now those attitudes are in short supply. Kids are taught to be wary of adults and ever aware of safety. If they are not vigilant, adults warn them, they may die.
Michael and Alex, poor souls, have been robbed of their childhood. No series of warnings could help them. It is the challenge to other parents to educate their children as to the evils in life, without destroying the joys.
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