The role of men in modern society

There are some precedents being set here that are disturbing. For instance, should a man not be allowed enter a swimming pool if there are some children there and no other adults, or perhaps be forced to keep a certain distance from the kids when in the pool. Or even be asked to leave the pool if all other adults have exited.

I do not subscribe to the theory of children's safety above all other considerations, particularly when the potential for adult misbehaviour is low or even if possible, would be of a very minor nature that would perhaps go unnoticed by the child. Such improbable and perhaps insignificant misbehaviour could be far less damaging to the child than the message that child may be learning from the preventative policies. That all men are not to be trusted. That it is ok to humiliate a person just because that person is a man and is trust into a situation not of his choosing. What if the child were at some stage to be interfered with by a female adult and the only other person for the child to confide with were a male. The child might be so conditioned that it does not report the situation to the one person capable of protecting it.

Allowing a child to be exposed to some low level danger may in the long run be preferable to trying to ensure 100% security. Wrapping a child in cotton wool is no different in this situation than others such as not allowing the child to engage in active sports in case of injury.

A simple solution could be for airlines to employ "supervisors" for unattended minors (blue-carded and suitably scrutinised, naturally (and of either sex imo)) and to apply a levy on the ticket sales to such passengers to cover the cost. As a parent I'd be happier knowing that a suitable adult would be with my child from arrival at airport to collection at the other end if I had to let them fly unaccompanied. I'd prefer not to have any stranger, male or female, in a position to cause them any distress. I was of the impression that kids on their own were supervised by the flight attendants, but this must be incorrect?

Maybe airlines should ban minors travelling alone or supply child minders for a fee - who lets 8 and 10 year olds travel by themselves anyway ? Irresponsible parenting.

wayneL said:

Perhaps we should remove any possible interaction between adult males and unaccompanied children? Would the alarmists be happy with that?

This would include teachers, doctors/male nurses, relatives (actually the most likely source of abuse), sports coaches, taxi drivers, bus drivers, your children's friend's parents... and the father FFS!!!

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Oh, stop being so rational!

DocK said:

A simple solution could be for airlines to employ "supervisors" for unattended minors (blue-carded and suitably scrutinised, naturally (and of either sex imo)) and to apply a levy on the ticket sales to such passengers to cover the cost. As a parent I'd be happier knowing that a suitable adult would be with my child from arrival at airport to collection at the other end if I had to let them fly unaccompanied. I'd prefer not to have any stranger, male or female, in a position to cause them any distress. I was of the impression that kids on their own were supervised by the flight attendants, but this must be incorrect?

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It's a long time since I worked for an airline, but what used to happen was this:

The parent/child minder brought the child to the check-in, having already reserved the seat for an unaccompanied child.

The ticketing clerk issued the boarding pass and at the same time notified the cabin crew who was that day on ground duty that the child was ready.

The ground staff member introduced herself to the child and looked after him/her until the boarding call.

She then took the child onto the aircraft and to the seat, giving him/her suitable reading material etc.
The cabin crew were always aware of how many unaccompanied children were on the flight and they were recorded separately on the preflight passenger count.

On landing, one member of the cabin crew personally took the child to meet the ground staff who had previously made contact with the person who was to collect them.

There was no additional charge made for this service.

It all worked perfectly well and the children were always given priority care and treatment.

numbercruncher said:

Maybe airlines should ban minors travelling alone or supply child minders for a fee - who lets 8 and 10 year olds travel by themselves anyway ? Irresponsible parenting.

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What rubbish. See above. I doubt any airline is going to let children just wander about an airport and out to an aircraft by themselves.
There are multiple reasons why it is sometimes necessary for children to fly without an accompanying parent/minder. The airline staff usually more than adequately fill the role.

numbercruncher said:

who lets 8 and 10 year olds travel by themselves anyway ?

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The Family Court of Australia does. One parent can take a child and move interstate or a long way from that child's usual home and enrol them in a new school at their new location. The other parent will need to go through the Family Court to seek recover orders. The legal process can take months if not years. In the mean time the Family Court may implement interim orders whereby the child needs to fly ever second weekend or so to visit their other parent.

Yes, I thought the same thing Dock, that the flight attendants would supervise the children.
This has probably been going on for years, and no one would know any different had the airline arranged the seating beforehand.

Lies, damn lies, and statistics. The stats show that a paedophile is more likely to be male than female, therefore the airline/s have chosen to do what they can to reduce any possible cause of legal action against them - as is their right. I agree with others who have stated that if the whole issue had been dealt with efficiently by the ticketing system then we'd all be none the wiser and no harm done. Once it became apparent to cabin staff that a snafu had occurred, imo they should have either dealt with the incident in a far more tactful and discreet manner, or have left everyone where they were and simply supervised closely to cover their butts.

I find myself feeling hypocritical on this issue, as while I certainly lament the lack of quality male teachers, nurses etc and would hate my young men-in-training to reach adulthood in a society that views men as dangerous predators, I also know that as a mother if asked whether I'd prefer my kids fly unaccompanied next to a man or a woman - without any prior knowledge of the actual man or woman I'd sit them next to a female due to those same statistics. What a sad world it's become.....

DocK said:

Lies, damn lies, and statistics. The stats show that a paedophile is more likely to be male than female

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it's not quite that clear cut ....

Contact CSA (child sexual assault) was reported by 16% of males and 25% of females. Men reported female perpetration of CSA nearly 40% of the time, and women reported female perpetration of CSA 6% of the time

child sexual assault against boys counts too right? you can't just say "men are more likely to be paedophiles" as an excuse for discrimination and worse, demonisation. female sexual abuse of children is hardly acknowledged, let alone studied with the scrunity male perpetration.

last time I went back to OZ i arrived at 4 AM and was pulled over by customs and had by bag X rayed every thing was emptied out and the bag X rayed again, for some reason there is a zip on the bottom which made the agents suspicious, my phone was taken and pocket search in my clothing, the agents came back several times open and closing the zipped I finally said charge me with some thing or let me go so at 5 AM I was allowed to leave and had missed my lift home.
As I was an aged male coming back from the Philippines I had to be a Pedo. in some ones eyes, I expect the same thing next trip.

Glen48 said:

last time I went back to OZ i arrived at 4 AM and was pulled over by customs and had by bag X rayed every thing was emptied out and the bag X rayed again, for some reason there is a zip on the bottom which made the agents suspicious, my phone was taken and pocket search in my clothing, the agents came back several times open and closing the zipped I finally said charge me with some thing or let me go so at 5 AM I was allowed to leave and had missed my lift home.
As I was an aged male coming back from the Philippines I had to be a Pedo. in some ones eyes, I expect the same thing next trip.

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You should be charged with only using one full stop in the first paragraph.

As well as starting a sentence in lower case.