There is always the idea that some older person is preying on innocent children. It happens, no question about it. People who haven't worked with teenagers have no idea how predatory some of them can be with each other. It can also be a component of bullying. There are some popular stereotypes of predators that are little more than nonsense.

There have been some interesting opinions in this thread. I personally think that whatever we can do to safeguard our children and our parishes is worth a little discomfort. We are in positions of trust, and we should be very careful to not meet with people (children or adults) alone. I am a little concerned over how detailed the background checks are or aren't. When I was first working in law enforcement as a prosecutor, I had to have my fingerprints examined by New York State, the FBI and other organizations, so I am not particularly bothered by another background check. I simply wonder whether the clerics are examined quite as closely as we are.

ineffective

That is the key word. If a person is inclined to abuse a child a 20-minute video is not going to stop him.

What we need is something that is truly educating people without just scaring them into doing or not doing ABC because it could be 'construed' as being XYZ. There is more to protecting children from various kinds of abuse than paranoia.

And this is not just a church thing either : the schools have created a paranoia among children that basically says "don't trust anyone". On many occasions I have walked down the side walk and a group of children happens to be in front of me: I don't know who they are, and don't care who they are (very Christian, I know), and I'm just going to the corner store to pick up a pound of butter and the news-paper, and they keep looking back over their shoulder nervously and tell eachother "that guy's following us". And as soon as possible they cross to the other side of the road, and start to run.

Am I really that much of an ogre that people think I'm out to get them and start running? Or is it the way we have programmed our children to react to people they don't know?

"If a person is inclined to abuse a child a 20-minute video is not going to stop him."

I said it before, and I'll say it again: the point of the training isn't to train people not to abuse children.

My profuse apologies for popping up again, and thanks to all who have sent kind messages and regards! I've been urged by some friends to make a few further explications in the interest of justice and charity.

First and foremost, I never meant in any way to imply anything deleterious about another member of the forum. You've all been lovely; I'd never want to insult any of you! After someone made a mild defense of priests, I commented that I hoped all her clerical encounters would be wonderful and pleasant, meaning to imply that my experiences with bishops and priests have not been so edifying and delightful.

This thread has inadvertently brought back a flood of terrible memories, and I might as well wear a number on my arm and a tag that says "Survivor of the Church of Nice" since it has taken much time and prayer to heal from my experiences. The main saga was initiated by my desire to ensure that my four sons who were altar boys at the time were operating in a safe environment in our parish. My friends and I became very alarmed when our new pastor brought with him a priest who was only known by his first name and was not listed on the bulletin. Suffice to say that after many harrowing discoveries and developments in the plot line, my friends and I ended up being publicly denounced by our bishop as "being in a state of mortal sin" for opposing the installation of the pastor who publicly admitted that he was harboring for years (as it turned out after his surname was verified) a suspended extern priest without faculties, for whom his bishop had been conducting an international search for years and who was listed on the USCCB's "Most Wanted" list. The sordid story does not end there, but that's more than enough and is a good cautionary tale for all parents.

I'm afraid even now of the long arm of my diocese but am not sorry in the least for doing what I knew was the right thing for my children, but you should all be aware that in some dioceses at least, a double standard of justice exists, and the USCCB Charter of Child Protection and all the VIRTUS programs in the world aren't, in the end, worth the powder to blow them up with.

God bless you all and maybe I'll be back someday after I get my equilibrium back. (I think I have the church equivalent of PTSD.) For now, I'm just going to stop talking and start reading and praying more (esp. the Divine Mercy Chaplet) and let my music say all that is in my heart.

The sure purpose of Virtus and such should be to remind a captive audience, at work in the Catholic Church, that such conduct as the program proposes to prevent is SINFUL, not merely illegal or a bad idea. Laws change. Philosophies come and go (just ask someone who has had to endure "continuing education" credits) but the moral law remains the same.