The episode of This American Life broadcast today included a segment he told us was "not suitable for children." I've responded to this profoundedly wrongheaded "warning" with the following message:
How on Earth can you say that your story from Westword (about the man who wanted to kill the rapist from his childhood) is unsuitable for children?
Do you honestly believe it's better that children not be aware of how they might be victimized if they're not careful? How is that going to protect them? It will, to the contrary, leave them that much more vulnerable.
Were you concerned that the material might be too disturbing for children? That admittedly is a possibility worthy of consideration — although children are often able to handle (and already aware of) more than adults give them credit for. But if that was your concern, you should have said so plainly and not left it open to the other interpretation, which reinforces an appallingly irrational and misguided, if still too common, attitude.
Ignorance is not bliss. It is danger!
You can hear the program at http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/425/slow-to-react. You can write Glass at web@thislife.org.
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