There is a common stigma in this country that the days where kids could run around and ride their bikes around the neighborhood are gone becuase of pedofiles. I can't fault anyone for thinking this way. Hell, in my book, I make a similar claim, but now I'm not so sure. There are two conflicting views on this subject. (1) the stories of pedofiles and the public list of child predators and (2) Most missing child cases turn up that the parents or another family member is the guilty party.
Objectively speaking, the latter is what most convinces me that even now kids can ride their bikes around their neighborhood just like I did as a kid. No matter how many pedofiles show up on that list, the facts remain that the amount of kids abducted by strangers pales in comparison to parents or other family members.
I liken this topic to the question: "Would you rather let your children go to a friend's house that has a pool or one where you know the family has a gun." Most people say the pool, yet statistically and objectively speaking, much more kids get injured or killed in a house swimming pool than by guns in the house. The balancing factor is hearing that a kid got shot is so much more traumatic than that they drowned or slipped while running and became severely injured. The thought that your child can leave home and someone picks them up to rape and murder them sounds so much worse than bad parenting. The reason is, in the former, there are many victims, the children and the poor parents and family that have to endure this....the latter, it's only the child. Few people ever have sympathy for parents that abuse their children, and I don't blame them. So I say, stop sheltering the kids and let them play!
No comments:
Post a Comment