I just watched a news story where both sides of the Parental notification issue expressed their stands. One man, whose daughter died as the result of an illegal, back alley abortion back in 1988, said that he opposed Parental Notification. If that law hadn't been on the books, his daughter would still be alive because she would have been able to go to a real doctor.

The a woman from a Pro-Family group came on and said, basically, parental involvement in shildren's lives is a good thing.

Please.

In 1954, Frederic Wertham published a lighthearted little tome entitled Seduction of the Innocent. In it, he blamed the problem of juvenile deliquency at the feet of comic books. This forced the comic publishers to create a self-regulating body called the COmics Code Authority. Mr. and Mrs. B could relax, and send Joanie and Richie off to their rooms, after checking for the Comics Code Seal.

Back in the early 80s, Tipper Gore started the Parents Music Resource Center when she heard her 12 year old listen to Prince's "Darling Nikki." She lobbied for, and got (through a voluntary system used by the record companies) ratings on albums. Today, parents no longer have to listen to the music their kids listen to, they just have to look at a little label and send the little monsters off to their room.

President Clinton somehow managed to get a law passed requiring V-chips in all televisions manufactured after January 1, 2000. No longer do mommy and daddy have to watch what their kids are watching. Set the V-chip and pack the little monsters off to their rooms and let the TV set determine what they can watch.

The Entertainment Software Rating Board puts ratings on video games. Parents don't have to do any research now. When the little curtain climbers get too annoying, give them their X-Box and pack them off to their room, safe in the knowledge that the software won't warp their tiny little brains.

And wasn't it Hillary who wrote a book called It Takes a Village to Raise a Child?

Americans have been trying to get their little domesticated yard apes out of their hair for the last 50 years. "It's not our fault little Johnnie shot up the school. It's the NRA!"