Posted on 09/08/2007 2:52:54 PM PDT by decimon
These days, if Rian Romoli accidentally bumps into a child, he quickly raises his hands above his shoulders. "I don't want to give even the slightest indication that any inadvertent touching occurred," says Mr. Romoli, an economist in La Cañada Flintridge, Calif.
Ted Wallis, a doctor in Austin, Texas, recently came upon a lost child in tears in a mall. His first instinct was to help, but he feared people might consider him a predator. He walked away. "Being male," he explains, "I am guilty until proven innocent."
In San Diego, retiree Ralph Castro says he won't allow himself to be alone with a child -- even in an elevator.
Cont...
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Paranoia and fear are not required when keeping children safe. Keep your children safe and stop looking at men as evil.
Cute loophole, but nobody is looking at men as evil.
I do believe there is an inherant problem with attributing the deaths of men properly. I’m just not sure how to quantify that segment of the deaths.
You're one of the people here talking sense. When Fishtalk wondered why "normally intelligent conservative males go bonkers at common sense stuff like this" ("this" being to infuse children and girls with distrust of all men) and I answered simply: "Because it isn't common sense," she called me ...
Are you ready for this? Ready?
She called me "mean"!!!! -- thinking I was a "Mr." Finny. Actually, Fish, it's MS Finny. And I submit to you that rlmorel is right and that a big part of the damage caused by YOUR and Scotswife's approach is that girls don't learn how to "read" men and hence YOUR APPROACH puts them at greater risk of male predators because these girls/women haven't learned the confidence to tell the guys to take a HIKE. Male predators prey on weak, frightened females, and that's what YOUR APPROACH creates. Personally, I think your approach is much meaner than my telling you that you lack common sense in this.
“Cute loophole, but nobody is looking at men as evil.”
Sure they are.
Airlines are refusing to seat young children next to men. Responses on this thread have indicated that men should not be trusted.
Why is this happening? Because the femanazi’s have been spreading their hatred for decades. Teaching that its wrong to be manly and that to be good we should all become more womanlike.
Uh no. What we’re talking about here is “potential.” Again, nobody is making a blanket statement that “men are evil.” What they are saying is the “potential” for misconduct is greater with men. If that percentage is only 2% (to put a number on it) then most parents wouldn’t accept it.
If we start labeling people “potential” criminals, then we are pretty much a fascist society.
And just because there is a slight “potential” someone will do something bad, doesn’t mean we avoid relationships and community with that segment of the population entirely.
What you are meaning instead of the word “potential” is the word “probable”. If a kid is alone with a male stranger, something bad will not “potentially” happen based on your reaction, but something will “probably” happen. The media can easily be blamed for many wrong ideas about society. Polls have shown that people’s perception of crime increasing in the last couple of decades happened during a time of crime decreasing across the board. What else increased: crime-based dramas and sensational crime news reporting. The media is responsible not necessarily for conveying facts about the world around us, but feelings about the world. You used to have to have a lot of experiences to get a sense of what would happen in an unusual situation. Now you can live them through popular television drama. The problem is, these aren’t real. And they skew society’s perceptions in the ways outlined in the article.
I remember vividly a flyer up on the wall of the hospital when my son was born. It warned of kidnappings of newborns and gave a profile of the possible perpetrator. Among other things, it would be a woman who was unable to have children, overly friendly, and would fool herself into thinking that the kidnapped newborn was her own. A friend of ours who was three weeks behind my wife in her pregnancy was concerned because she had all but one of the characteristics they listed—she finally was able to get pregnant. There are many unbalanced people out there, and I think I would direct my child to look for someone official—a security officer, someone working at an information desk a flight attendant, a lifeguard, or a store manager depending on our situation. Over 20 years ago when I was lost at a Rangers game as a young child, I went right to a policeman who led me to the security office at the stadium, where I waited until my dad found me happy and unharmed. I think that is the best situation rather than hoping a random woman would know where to go in a busy baseball stadium.
Yes, I could do that.
Everyone labels people/strangers according to potential/perceived risk. It’s part of our survival mechanism.
Uh no — not at all. What I’m saying is teach kids some street smarts, i.e.
If you’re lost, what do you do?
A)Find a cop.
B)Store employee.
C)Mommy with kids.
If someone tries to grab you,what do you do?
A)Scream and “windmill”
B)Kick and scream
All this is very basic stuff. I’m not saying scare the kid to death of men, but instill some street smarts, so they at least know there are “bad people” in the world.
“If that weren’t true, the media wouldn’t be reporting it...” Really? So now the MSM are the bringers of truth? When did that happen? I must have missed that shift in reality.
Your point, based on the MSM, may be true, but I wouldn’t claim it to be so because of your source.
One reason that male violence in domestic situations is more widely reported is that police and prosecutors are trained to automatically assume the male is the perpetrator. I could go on for hours about that mindset, and the BS arrests, bookings and prosecutions it caused.
I’d add that almost any PD will send a cop to a PTA meeting or classroom or even a home to teach child safety.
Nope. He’s right. I have four daughters, and I’m very careful about how I hug, etc. It sucks, but there you have it.
Uh...have you see nthe number of FEMALE teachers that are doing these things? Guess you missed that part.
I can’t believe how much heat you’re taking on this subject. It’s cracking me up!
Sucks big time.
But one good thing about a discussion like this is that lets us all know we're not alone in our feelings or fears.
Here’s another great line I read somewhere. I’ll paraphrase. “We sleep easy in our beds at night because rough men stand ready in the dark to protect us.”
Yeah. I thought that I was being too paranoid, but better safe than sorry.
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