Hysteria

It is the tradition at my particular place of work to head to one of the local real ale boozers of a Friday lunch time and this Friday was no different.

This time a couple of people were there who I don't know that well, I think you'd call them acquaintances more than anything else, certainly they were not aware that I was involved in scouting in anyway. And conversation came round to the fact that one of them has a son who is about to start cubs. So far so good, I naturally showed an interest. Anyway eventually this individual said that he had volunteered to help out with cubs, not because he really wanted to, but because he didn't trust the leaders. This was not a particular anti scout leader thing, the fact is he does not trust any adult with his child. And what a sad state of affairs that is.

Now I completely understand wanting to meet the leaders involved, that makes sense, I get maybe enquiring as to what checks have been done on them, what training they have done and what first aid qualifications they have. It's very protective, but I get it. Yet to wrap your kid in cotton wool to the point where you wont trust them with anyone else is shocking, on two levels.

Firstly, where is the sense of adventure? The biggest thing kids get out of scouting, or any other organisation like guides, or boys/girls brigade, cadets, St Johns ambulance and so on, is that sense of adventure. It's about doing something away from your parents and gaining that sense of independence, of standing on your own two feet. And I think that kids that don't do that are missing out on something.

Secondly, that sense of mistrust. What a sad state of mind to be in. How tragic it must be to treat everyone you meet with suspicion, that they may realistically pose a threat to your child. Imagine that state of mind. How do you get to that place? I blame the media to a certain extent but there is an overall obsession in society with paedophiles etc that is just not healthy. And we need to start changing our mind set because unless we do, more kids are going to miss out.

More Hysteria

Before I begin I should probably start by saying that I originally came across this via the Daily Mail which of course puts me in a suspiscious frame of mind as to its authenticity from the very begining so do bare that in mind as you read.

Anyway, having read it I did a spot of googling and came across the original stories in the Shropshire Star here and here.

Now it certainly seems that the screaming headlines aren't quite the truth, but what it does boil down to is that council staff working in parks have been specifically briefed to look out for peadophiles in local parks in Telford, albeit individuals that they think are suspiscious and not just those without children as the headlines state.

Regardless of the detail this is quite shocking, it is totally unecessary and serves only to further whip up the hysteria in this country about peadophiles. And in turn this also makes me people even less inclined to do anything that involves working with children because of the sense of suspiscion that they feel under.

Your child is more likely to be struck by lightening than to be abducted by a stranger, 90% of sexual abuse takes place within the family or extended family. The threat of "stranger danger" is negligable compared, for example, to being run over. If you are a parent making sure your child can cross the road and cycle safely (as opposed to stopping them do it) should be a far bigger priority that looking out for peadophiles.

Everyone that comes into contact with children shares a responsibility for their protection, however that should come with a liberal dose of common sense. Of course a park keeper that sees a child injure themselves or in distress should of course intervene, as should any other adult on hand. Yet in the climate created by council staff being briefed to look out for peadophiles how comfortable would any adult in Telford be about assisting a distressed child?

This policy is just the latest stage in this country's unhealthy obession with peadohiles, fuled to a massive extent by the tabloids. And obsession that needs to be got rid of, and fast.