Friday, April 11, 2008
Re: Education Funds for Sex-Offenders
Let me apologize in advance for playing devil's advocate... I agree sex offenders are heinous and have no place in our society. Unfortunately they are Americans too. People slip through cracks, are wrongfully convicted, and at times people can change. Who knows, maybe focusing on education and expanding their mind a person can find a way to become free of the chains holding them into their patterns and keeping them stuck in lives benefiting no one and hurting others. I have never committed a crime, nor do I plan to do so. I have family that I love and would give anything to protect. That being said, anyone you or I know could fall in to a circumstance that seems wrong to us, we don’t always have all the facts, just because it seems that way does not make it a reality. A 17 year-old boy consensually dating a 15 year-old girl doesn’t warrant losing a future to me. I’m not defending rewarding criminals or condoning any hurtful behavior, I am defending each of our individual rights to try and make our lives better. Sex-offenders must register with the government and it is public knowledge where they live. They are and always will be persona non grata to the whole world. And some may waste the money provided to them, but I know a number of students that do the same with their college grants. Yes, I would much rather that $20,000 go to a student that works hard and is motivated and honest and worthy of our tax dollars. But it’s not my decision to determine who is worthy of what. I don’t know the situation of every sex offender, rightly convicted…or wrongly. I prefer to give people opportunity rather than to take it away.
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Educated Sex Offenders??
Whether or not sex offenders should receive federal Pell grants is an issue that is on the table at this time. The blog, “Education Funds For Sex-Offenders” addresses this matter. I was torn on the issue at first. I must say that I personally know a gentleman who is labeled as a sex offender and knowing him has opened my eyes to the whole issue. I’ll give you a little background on my friend so you can see that not all “sex offenders” are the horrible people one might picture when we hear the word.
The long and the short of it is that this man met a young lady who told him she was 20 years old. It turns out that she was actually 17. After an intimate relationship started her parents found out and decided to press charges on him although it was consensual. Sadly, he was charged and convicted as a sex offender; however, her parents were unable to force her to stop seeing him and she later continued a relationship. Earlier this year I helped them celebrate their 10 year anniversary along with their three beautiful young children. In this case, the fault would lie on both parties as she was not truthful about her age and he failed to end the relationship once her secret was revealed. I get to see first hand how the “sex offender” label affects his life. About a year ago he received his bachelor’s degree and will go on to attempt his PhD. Good jobs have been hard to find and a lot of doors close on him as soon as he discloses the fact that he is a “sex offender”.
When I think of my friend’s particular situation I came to the conclusion that maybe offenders should get grants. However, after reading more into it I am jolted back into reality and remember that there are “real” sex offenders out there that have committed terrible crimes and I started to rethink my stance on the issue. At first I thought maybe there could be some sort of rating scale for different offenses and grants could be awarded on a case by case basis. Realistically though, the demand for grants probably outweigh the resources carry this out.
I don’t condone sex offender’s crimes in any aspect and I definitely hope in true cases that the offender is persecuted to the fullest extent of the law. However, if a sex offender has served their time for their crime they too should be given the same opportunity to further their education, which does not come cheap. A non-offender can abuse the funds just the same as a sex offender can so hopefully policies in place will deter them from doing so.
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