Every Man a Predator

Instapundit points to an interesting article on "How men cope with being cast as predators":

Ted Wallis, a doctor in Austin, Texas, recently came upon a lost child in tears in a mall. His first instinct was to help, but he feared people might consider him a predator. He walked away. "Being male," he explains, "I am guilty until proven innocent."

In San Diego, retiree Ralph Castro says he won't allow himself to be alone with a child -- even in an elevator.

Last month, I wrote about how our culture teaches children to fear men. Hundreds of men responded, many lamenting that they've now become fearful of children. They said they avert their eyes when kids are around, or think twice before holding even their own children's hands in public. . . .

It's true that men are far more likely than women to be sexual predators. But our society, while declining to profile by race or nationality when it comes to crime and terrorism, has become nonchalant about profiling men. Child advocates are advising parents never to hire male babysitters. Airlines are placing unaccompanied minors with female passengers.

This all rings true with me, and I had an experience recently in which I saw a situation that needed action and was hesitant to get involved because of the automatic assumption that lone men must be a threat to children (especially middle-aged men like myself). I was waiting for my lunch in the food court of the Mission Viejo mall on a day when the mall was full of baby strollers. Not far from where I was standing was a stroller with a little girl that looked to be about 1 year old. She was old enough to stand up on her own, but wasn't real steady.

The girl was holding the little remote device that Rubios gave out to let you know your food is ready, and she dropped it off the front of the stroller. I could see trouble coming as the little girl started climbing up out of her seat. I was looking around for a mom to come running, but nobody seemed to be watching but me.

Since I thought the kid was going to tumble out on her head, I kind of eased over to within a long arm's reach of the girl just in case, but there was no way I was going to reach down and touch that kid unless she started to fall. Sure enough, she stood up, wobbled, and started to fall backwards out of the stroller and right on her head. I made a diving catch at the same time another mom jumped in and together we kept her in the stroller. After looking around for 15 seconds or so, the mom finally came running over to see what was going on. She had been filling up her drink and had left the kid in the stroller but not belted in. We probably saved that kid a serious injury, but I was nervous about getting involved because the last thing you want is some woman screaming accusations at you because you touched her kid.

I used to run into this during my insurance days when I'd have to measure a building while preschool kids were there. I can remember walking in the gate at one church and hearing the teacher yell "Stranger Danger!!" over and over while the kids ran for their lives. That made me feel real nice.

It's a shame that it has come to the point where we have to warn our kids that men are a danger to them.

UPDATE : Thanks for the link, Glenn, and welcome Instapundit readers.