Show a Little Love

USA Today ran an article which will make it possible for sex offenders to live less than 2,000 feet away from schools or daycare centers. This is not to endanger lives of citizens but give sex offenders somewhere to live. It has become increasingly difficult for sex offenders to find a place of residence. Many cannot live in the Atlanta area because of overlapping zones. With laws now banning sex offenders from bus stations and churches, legislation seems to have gone too far. Sex offenders after weighing their options, either break the law by lying about their address, move to a rural area or end up homeless. If we don’t change the laws, then sex offenders will keep lying about their true residence. It is better to have them living close by and knowing they do instead of not knowing at all. With programs such as Family Watch Dog, available online, the general public has the right to see where a sex offender lives, works and what crime was committed. The program however, is only as good as the information. Therefore we must let sex offenders reside with us so we can keep a close eye on them. The problem with sex offenders living in rural areas is that parole officers cannot easily get to the house of the sex offender to check up on them. In the woods, homes are difficult to locate and GPS devices are not reliable to find the destination. Some sex offenders resort to living in the street. If they offer a false address and cannot make rent, the only choice is living on park benches until caught. Is this really the world we want to grow up in, one where we boot our America out the door? Sex offenders have to be on a registry for the rest of their lives and many don’t deserve the same punishment as others. We need to forgive those who are just trying to earn a living and made their mistake as a young teen and now are remorseful.