Are we becoming desensitised to stories about violence, sexual abuse and corruption? We seem to be seeing more and more news about these crimes. Perhaps it’s because of their very regularity that we are no longer shocked.

We buy our children games to keep them occupied, but many of these games promote violence and thus corrupt the children’s minds.

We refuse to teach our children about the birds and the bees. We rely on teachers to educate our children about their own bodies because we are too embarrassed to do so. Unfortunately, the teachers themselves are also too shy.

So, what do the children do? They learn from older children or from pornographic material, which are easily accessible nowadays. Some of this pornography will turn our ears red from embarrassment and some are so filthy that they make our stomachs churn.

What the children see in hard core porn they may mistake for the norm. What they observe in sado-masochistic scenes may trick them into believing that this is normal in a relationship.

Videos of sex with multiple partners; rough sex; unprotected sex; sex with minors, babies or pregnant women; the use of gadgets and suffocation techniques are easily available if you know where to look. How well do parents monitor their children’s use of the internet?

At the weekend, two teenage boys were arrested for the gang-rape of a Form One student. They were caught during the day in a hut in an oil palm plantation. Two other boys managed to escape on motorbikes.

Had the boys befriended the girl? Were they old friends? Was she lured to the hut? Was she a willing victim? Isn’t it foolish for the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry to give only boys sex education? The girl could have learnt some useful lessons.

Another story that horrified Malaysians was the one about a 16-year-old Sarawakian who had been repeatedly raped by her 38-year-old father in his flat in Chow Kit Road.

It was two weeks before her screams were heard by neighbours, and despite her mother’s police report, it was another week before the police finally acted.

Why was there a delay of one week? Are we to suppose that even the police have become desensitised to crime? Heaven forbid.

Mariam Mokhtar is an FMT columnist.

With a firm belief in freedom of expression and without prejudice, FMT tries its best to share reliable content from third parties. Such articles are strictly the writer’s (or organisation’s) personal opinion. FMT does not necessarily endorse the views or opinions given by any third party content provider.