“Vice is nice, but… “

 “Vice is nice, but… “

I’m sure that most of you above the age of 12 know the rejoinder to that cute quip. It has been

with us for centuries. It is a seemingly harmless anecdote, but take it from me, it just happens

to be a lie of monumental proportions.

Our greatest resource is our youth and in a rapidly aging society, they are even more valued.

We must be ‘ en garde’ to protect these precious beings. They are under attack not only from

“The Evil One,” but from drug dealers, sexual predators, human traffickers and foreign entities

even family members bent on exploiting their innocence and naivete.

It is no wonder, with all that is bombarding them, drugs, porn, sex and violence become

seemingly viable outlets for the Fear, Frustration, Desolation and Anxiety. To whom will they

turn? In whom can they place their trust? With whom will they seek comfort? The answer,

more often than not is each other, especially in these “post COVID” times, when isolation and

loneliness has marked their intimate hours.

I am particularly concerned with young ‘GenZ’ families, whose children and their siblings are

approaching puberty and beyond. These are very vulnerable young bodies, loaded with raging

hormones, seeking comfort and confidence wherever it may be found, so that even the most

unspeakable acts and primal secrets will be kept silently between them.

While parents struggling with their own demons of how to raise a family responsibly, pay the

bills, navigate the workplace, handle their own loose desires, bad habits, substance abuse still

try toprovide an adequate education that will enable their offspring to cope with an unstable

future, at best. Without proper guidance, they (the kids) too often, seek greater solace in each

other.

Lacking sufficient evidence from their elders that there is any real danger in so ‘educating

themselves’ or their siblings in the ways of the flesh, they embark on some rather daring,

tenuous and perilous adventures that may lead them down some very dark paths on the way to

adulthood. They (their burgeoning sexual desires) may ultimately be ones that they are unable

to contain, control or even comprehend, as the experiments become more profound and

complex. Many times, their initially ‘harmless explorations’ can result in the worst possible

outcomes, promiscuity, pregnancy, frustration, anger, violence (both self-inflicted and against

others), jealousy, mental illness and quite possibly, murder or suicide.

I know that this a somewhat bleak view of our current social and sociological circumstances,

but I implore all parents with children between the ages of 10 and 20 to be diligent and vigilant

checking for signs of abhorrent behavior in your children, their friends and others. And, as the

saying goes, “if you see something, say something.” There is counseling and treatment

available. If you are victimizing your own with your depraved and prurient pursuits, STOP

IMMEDIATELY! Seek out help in dealing with these issues in counseling, professionally, at

church, in school or privately, but DO NOT IGNORE the signs. You know them when you see

them. You will feel them in your gut. Don’t let your strange feelings make ‘stranger bedfellows’

of them. GET THEM AND YOU HELP, NOW!