Johnson was delighted when the British Airways flight attendant announced he had to move away from the two restless, difficult children beside him. "A man cannot sit with children,'' she declared. Whereupon the children stymied his escape by declaring: ''But he's our father.'' (www.smh.com.au)
Jopson recounts case after case of the over arching presumption of associated guilt of "all men" in a wide range of everyday circumstances.
These included men being relocated on airlines when their seating systems placed them beside unaccompanied children. A school principal who wanted to cancel 'grand-fathers' assisting in running school playground activities. A father fearing having his camera at his daughter's birthday pool party. The fear within the 2,900 men fully qualified in pre-school education. The list goes on and on.
Cited is a school teacher who fears assisting a small child after a toilet accident without a colleague present. Now the education department needs to employ two teachers, not one, unless it's a female.
Yet the Australian Institute of Criminology "Female Offenders" shows some very frightening statistics and latest news reports have simply highlighted the trend. Women are fast becoming violent offenders on a par with men. (www.aic.gov.au)
Murder, Manslaughter, Robbery, Resisting Arrest with Violence and the illegal Sex Trade of young Asian women (kidnapping and false imprisonment) is right up there.
No men, nor women
Obviously men cannot be trusted near children as there seems to be a preoccupation they are all paedophiles, the entire male population mind-you, and now with so many violent crimes carried out by women, it would be unthinkable to have women near children either.
The corporate policy makers and government bureaucrats who thought up all these astonishing rules to protect children from every adult male and with such crime statistics, inevitably every adult female now, the obvious question: Who is there to look after the children.
Teaching is seemingly approved now as from the above reference, two teachers are required to care for each and every child. Baby sitting is approved for teenage girls but a number of teenage girls have slaughtered the tiny tot darlings. Maybe teenage girls shouldn't be allowed near little children either.
What we need are robots!
What therefore might be some solutions to all this:
(1) More of the same, and getting worse.
(2) Go back to common sense - dread the thought !
When I was a child my parents took us kids everywhere with them. Night church was full of kids. Restaurants catered for kids. Large department stores had children's play sections. The kids were not left at home.
What about parties with friends? There was a kids room in the house with an assigned "kids room" with a supervisor.
Today, one would demand a supervisor "expert" from the Department that makes up these amazing rules. One can also take the whole family on business trips. The solutions are endless as long as you've got loads of money for a nanny (and a supervising nanny to ensure that the nanny is not a nanny-villain).
In past generations the rich sent their "next generation delights" off to boarding schools. The parents dreaded the holidays when they returned home and the nanny rejoiced in seeing them back!
Unthinking danger
A missionary friend of mine who is heavily involved in helping in the financing 47 different orphanages on three continents was visiting one in Eastern Europe. In one situation, the funding provided a single bed for one particular 13 year old girl and without thinking, he had a PR photograph taken with her.
Immediately it dawned upon him what danger that placed him in, so he called in a another person who was incorporated into another photograph and the previous photograph was deleted from the digital camera.
Ministers and mission personnel are always in danger of being compromised. 40 years ago when at Morling (NSW Baptist Seminary) we were given strict directions as to such situations. It has become important to be alert as false accusations (made by anyone even colleagues) can easily become terrifying. There is even a case on record in Australia where two Ministers from two separate Denominations falsely accusing another Minister from another Denomination of sexual harassment for a political advantage.
It's perilous out there, and why anyone trusts anyone …... is a remarkable statement of faith.
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html