By Danette Gamble, Kansas City Star Reader Advisory panelist

Phillip Garrido. Monster. Demon. Fiend. Pedophile. If you have a thesaurus you can find many names for Garrido.

How could the neighbors not know a child had been raped for 18 years and given birth to two children by her rapist? Why was this convicted pedophile out on the streets?

I’ve actually got answers to these questions.

If it doesn’t concern me or mine, it’s no concern of mine. There is nothing like 20/20 hindsight for the neighbors who “minded their own business” for 18 years while a kidnapped girl was raped repeatedly and gave birth to two children by a mad man right next door. But, is our need for privacy, and letting people live their own lives, no more than just an excuse for lack of concern?

We have become a society that twitters while walking, not noticing the people who are amongst us. Conversations are carried out on cell phones by text messages to friends who are sitting at the same table.

We have become so consumed in our own little worlds that we neither see, nor care, what goes on outside of that world.

People! Wake up! Be aware of your neighbors! Remember Hillary Clinton’s book, “It Takes a Village?” I’m not a Clinton fan, but her book is dead on when dealing with the responsibility of us all when it comes to raising our children.

So, let’s move on to other social ills, other than not wanting to get involved, that may have encouraged Garrido’s sick mind.

Weak sentencing for child molesters. A good place to start--the case of David Harold Earls of McAlester, OK. You see, Mr. Earls raped and sodomized a four-year girl and was sentenced to just one year in prison. Yes. One year. He apparently reached a deal with Judge Thomas Bartheld who gave him a 20-year sentence if he pleaded no contest to charges of rape and forcible sodomy; however, the judge reduced his sentence by 18 years. Earls has been in jail since September 24, 2008, struck a deal on May 13, 2009, and is scheduled to be released on September 24, 2009.

Again, a convicted sex offender gets less than a slap on the wrist. What does this say to the sick perverts who molest children? They can do the deed, and if caught, get a couple of months of free meals, and be out on the street in no time.

What does it say about our society when our children are abused and their abusers don’t get just punishment? It says that the people who hurt them aren’t that bad for what they’ve done. It says our children’s being molested has become less important to us than if someone were to steal our new flat screen television.

Sexualizing our children. Child beauty contests have been a pet peeve of mine for many years; however, watching shows such as Toddlers & Tiaras is a pedophile’s wet dream. Scantily clad little girls, their little faces smeared with more make-up than Amy Winehouse, shaking their booty for the judges, doing their best imitations of Brittany Spears, is like watching the Super Bowl for pedophiles.

Not only is the media exploiting our children, retail and parents who buy what’s put out there, are to blame as well. Has anybody tried to buy decent clothes for their little girls ages 6-12? I tried to go out and buy school clothes for my granddaughters and had to go to five stores before I could find anything that would cover their body parts.

Bikini underwear for 6 year olds? Hip-hugger blue jeans that barely cover their behinds? High-healed sandals that would be difficult for a stripper to walk in? Aren’t children that age suppose to be comfortable enough in their clothes that they can play and run and not worry about body parts popping out?

Finally, the “canonizing” of Michael Jackson. After two months of worshipping, adoring, idolizing and grieving Michael Jackson’s death, he is finally buried. Jackson was a talented artist. I, too, enjoyed his music and videos. But, let’s call it like it is: Michael Jackson was a pedophile.

For us, as a society, to practically place him upon the level of a deity, is preposterous. He was a flawed human being. Those children whom he violated, where will they be in years to come? How are they coping? The parents of those children, how can they live with themselves?

Our society is responsible for what happened to Jaycee Dugard. Is this the trend we want to pass down to our children?

We, as adults, are responsible for the safety of our children. They are our future. We must protect our children from human polluters who prey on their innocence, just as we must protect our environment from polluters who would destroy our existence.