According to reports, buying drugs is easier than ever before because of the Internet. So is prostitution. The same technology that allows you to order a meal from your favorite restaurant allows you to order other things as well. Law enforcement finds it more difficult to track the darker trades because of anonymous software and diverse ways to hide transactions.

At the same time, traditional authority is breaking down. Cartoons used to picture teenagers tying up the family phone for long conversations with friends. Now members of the Zits age engage each other through smart phones and Facebook. Parents find it more difficult to know who their children’s friends are or what meetings they might be arranging or whether their texts deal with bullying, sexual propositions, or simply homework.

Churches and religious institutions have lost credibility. Even in Iran, mosques are losing their power to prohibit. The old authority isn’t in place, in the West or elsewhere.

What’s left? Self-discipline, it would appear, is the only thing that works against the dark side. Parents can teach it to their children in their early years, but only if they themselves practice it.