India Knight on paedophilia paranoia

[Thanatos]

I draw your attention to an excellent article in today's Sunday Times News Review:

www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2092-2271791,00.html

(For some reason seemingly involving the commas the tag doesn't work here, so just copy and paste.)

[HStorm]

Paedo-paranoia has been a big problem in this country for about twenty years now. The tendancy for unthinking mass public outrage does nothing but harm, and leads to common assumptions that are completely out of proportion with reality.

A child plays outside after six in the evening and is kidnapped. The common response is to cry, "Why was she allowed out on her on at that time?!" At recent estimates, under 5% of victims of violence in the UK are children, which makes that accusation seem very unfair.

In the case of teachers having to 'keep a wall' between themselves and kids, it's really one of the sad aspects of modern life. It goes without saying that just making physical contact with a child is harmless, but in truth, I even see nothing to get alarmed about in teachers giving them a cuddle or a quick peck on the cheek. When they're so young, that's when children most need affectionate gestures.

On the other hand, child abuse was higher back when little things like these weren't frowned upon, but there's clearly a massive difference between giving someone a cuddle and groping them.

[modeski]

Britain is truly the Paedoph-Isles.

Interesting article. It really is quite sad that all adults are being demonised, and children deprived of normal, healthy physical contact from trustworthy people that can do wonders to lift their self-esteem, improve their moods and socialise them in preparation for later life.

The problem is one of balance and perspective, neither of which sells newspapers. There seems to be no consideration for nuance in any area of public debate, which I find very frustrating.

As the article says, we need to educate children on the difference between "good" and "bad" touching, how to behave around strangers, and how to know their rights. I'm sure we'll see the results of the current "Everything = bad" culture in a few years, when today's kids grow into psychologically stunted adults.