The Smelker Seven

So - ALL men are dangerous??

I am an avid reader of Fox News online. I think they are probably the most balanced news station right now. At least they are not scared to hire democrats as writers and are willing to express dissenting opinions! Last week an article was posted that gave me pause to think:

Segregating Children from Men

If this is indeed the case, all fathers are under attack! As Boris Johnson (a Member of Parliment in the United Kingdom) explains in his blog, this is getting beyond the joke. I can do no better than to quote the man himself:

At which the stewardess gave a gentle cough. Actually, she said, she was proposing to move me to row 52, and that was because — she lowered her voice — "We have very strict rules".

Eh? I said, by now baffled. "A man cannot sit with children," she said; and then I finally twigged. "But he's our FATHER", chimed the children. "Oh," said the stewardess, and then eyed me narrowly. "These are your children?" "Yes," I said, a bit testily. "Very sorry," she said, and wafted down the aisle — and in that single lunatic exchange you will see just about everything you need to know about our dementedly phobic and risk-averse society. In the institutionalised prejudice of that BA stewardess against an adult male, you see one of the prime causes of this country's tragic under-achievement in schools.

I mention all this because the same absurd kerfuffle happened this week. Some child was put next to an ancient journalist and his wife on a flight, and the airline (BA again) went into spasm. As the hoo-ha raged, the press turned to the lobby groups, and someone called Pam Hibbert of Barnardo's obliged with the usual bossyboots quote. The ban on sitting children next to adults was "eminently sensible", said this eminently ridiculous figure.

I mean, come off it, folks. How many paedophiles can there be? Are we really saying that any time an adult male finds himself sitting next to someone under 16, he must expect to be hustled from his seat before the suspicious eyes of the entire cabin?

What about adult females? Every week there is some new tale of what a saucy French mistress is deemed to have done with her adolescent charges behind the bicycle sheds; and, disgraceful though these episodes may be, I don't hear anyone saying that children should be shielded from adult women. Do you? Or maybe I'm wrong — maybe all adults will have to carry personal cardboard partitions with them on every plane or train, just in case they find themselves sitting next to under-16s."

So, next year when our family plans on flying to our vacation destination, does that mean Terry can't sit next to the kids? Hey! No Fair! I am not looking after all of them by myself! He gets a free ride while I face down the dirty looks sent to all parents who dare disturb the precious peace of passengers around them because I, inconsiderate mom that I am, choose to bring my children on the plane. Nope - he's gonna sit between the kids, just the same as me, and threaten, cajole and blackmail them into silence!

Ok, a little tongue in cheek there, but this is a dangerous trend and only looks like it is getting worse. And Boris has a valid point - what about the growing number of woman predators? He mentioned the ones in the UK, but here the USA we have seen our share - Debra Lafave is a case in point. There have been others in recent months, but no one stops adult women from sitting next to kids.

I am all for prosecuting paedophiles - actually I am all for cutting pertinent bits off them, or locking them up and throwing away the key; but aren't people presumed innocent until found guilty? And isn't it wrong for us to assume that just because a male is just that, a male, he must therefore be a paedophile?

All I know is, when we get on the plane next year, my husband will be seated with his children - where he belongs!

Labels: Editorial

posted by The Smelker Seven @ 8:48 AM