The other day I was with my two young children at The Wherehouse in Malibu. They have a special kid’s section which displays classic and current children’s videos and CDs. To my shock I discovered that less than 20 feet away is an adult DVD section. There are flimsy loose black dividers in the front row of these DVDs to hide the explicit covers-extremely explicit covers I watched in horror as a young toddler who couldn’t have been more than three years old walked over and, intrigued by the black dividers, began throwing them on the floor and exposing these incredibly raunchy DVDs. When I realized what was happening I whisked the little kid away, who, of course, was holding one of the DVDs in her hand and staring at it. What kind of sick world is this that allows The Wherehouse to expose little children to that kind of filth? Why can’t that stuff be under lock and key or behind a counter? Why doesn’t anybody care that a child can simply walk up and with little resistance see obscene images and words that are sick and mind-boggling, violent and degrading?
I complained to a store employee behind the counter who snickered at me like I was some kind of nun on an obscenity crusade. He said it was store policy and told me to get a life. Whatever happened to innocence? What kind of community is this that would allow a store to have a “kid’s section” and a porno section that close to each other! Look, I’m not a prude. And I’m definitely not a “Letters To the Editor” type guy. I’m just a divorced father who likes to take his kid into the video stores. That store should be ashamed of itself. It’s disgusting what that little three-year-old saw and it makes me sick to my stomach that it happened. I urge all parents in Malibu to boycott The Wherehouse until they make some changes.
Michael J. Wilson