I'm really not sure where this goes... it's a little politics/rights, a little mental health. Mods, please place appropriately.
<a href="https://www.mind-media.com/go.php?http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5498114&nav=menu44_2_3" target="_blank">http://www.woodtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=5498114&nav=menu44_2_3</a>
</font><blockquote><font class="small">Quote:</font><hr /> PLAINFIELD TOWNSHIP -- Northview School Superintendent Michael Stearns says his first job is to protect district students. So when he learned a potential sex offender was living in the district, he sent a letter home to parents warning them of the man.
What makes the warning unusual is the man has no prior criminal record for sex crimes.
Stearns says he issued the warning after obtaining the man's mental health records.
Despite laws that are supposed to keep such records private, Stearns claims the district's attorney approved the warning.
The letter has parents worried.
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That has me worried. No, I'm not a pedo but if I tell a shrink I have obsessive thoughts of killing people, does that mean it's ok for that to be disclosed?
The guy probably did something suspicious to have them look up his record. But the thing that grinds my gears is that you assume your medical records are private. Putting the "sexual predator" shit aside, what separates someone who thinks about crimes from someone who carries those thoughts out? Sociopathy, right?
There's this book, "The Imp of the Mind" which talks about obsessive bad thoughts. That is, thoughts which you think about, that are bad, and exist solely because they are bad. The more you think about how bad they are, and the worse they morally seem, the more you think about them. Social stigmas often add to their intensity. An example of this (from the book) is this preacher who couldn't stop staring at tits and thinking of having sex with many women. Ok, maybe that could also be classified under normal male psychology, except, thinking about having sex with old people?
Sick, old people are wrinkly and that's just wrong, she's old enough to be your mother type shit, but the point is, because you see it as morally wrong and disgusting, the thoughts bother you more.
Ok, now lets damn anyone who even thinks of harming children. What will be next? Although I think the media has gotten society on a bit of overkill, paranoid sex offender frenzy, I do believe that every measure should be taken to prevent such horrible, immoral things. But are we paving the way for thought crimes? Is this something that could drive moral people insane, due to a mental illness (OCD/obsessive bad thoughts), not a desire to do harm or act out on them?
Sorry that got long there, it's a touchy subject matter at timnes, and this post touches on law and psychology. Your opinions?
Edited by poke smot! (09/07/20 02:28 PM)
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This is a difficult topic for me to choose a side to debate. Weighing the safety of children on one side against the right to have bad thoughts on the other. The last time I checked, it was still legal to think whatever one wants. Based upon the letter itself, it would appear that the victim has a good libel case against the school.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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