One day, while my husband, sons and I were at a local minor-league baseball game, I told my boys, "Stay close, we don't want to lose you!"
My oldest (8 y.o. at the time) replied, "I know, 'cause this place is full of bad guys."
I stopped in my tracks and thought about what he'd just said. I told him, "Look around you. There are about 6000 people here today. About 5990 of them would never EVER hurt you, and of them, thousands of them would probably put their lives in harm's way to protect you if they could. The problem is...we can't tell which one of these folks IS the bad guy, and that's why we have to be careful."
After reading this article, I'm afraid I may have lied to my child. I guess I never really thought about how many men are truly and honestly afraid of being accused of something villainous. I am hopeful, though, that most men would overcome their fears and help my child if he needed it. If not, I fear we're surely lost as a society.
Regards,
All that I can say about your situation is what I would do. I will protect ANY children within my ability to do so. On that note, I also am not the guy in your local comminity designated to do that. heh.
I know. While reading these posts and understanding where these guys are coming from in shying away from helping a child in need, it makes me incredibly sad to realize the world is at a point that most would pass my child by because of fear.