I remember a simpler time. The year is 2000. Freddos cost a mere 5p, and £1 would serve as a Victorian banquet to my 10-year-old self, spending endless hours in the local Spar deciding what sweets were best suited to my particularly distinguished pallet. It’s mid July, a bright sunny day and Mum had just made me my favorite lunchtime snack, lemon curd sandwiches, hold the crust. Having exhausted the sandy resources left behind from a recent renovation on the house next door (as I believed wetting the sand would ultimately create quicksand...of course) me and my 2 brothers grew tiresome of such novelties and took it upon ourselves to go on an adventure to the nearby “Apley Woods”, in search of the mythical beast known as “Howard the Tramp” who seemingly resided in the gloomy shrubbery.
Ready for the road, we saddled up our bikes and discussed the route we would take. Now Mum had always been conscientious as to our safety, and the quote “don’t talk to strangers” had been re-iterated consistently within the Cooper household. Today however, she was extremely tentative.
Today, Mum wanted to come with us. Now she wasn’t much of a rider and her sword skills left a lot to be desired, but alas we conceded to her will and allowed her to join the fellowship. The day was fine, and although we didn’t get a glimpse of Howard, we managed to find evidence of his existence (an old bottle of Frosty Jack and a retro copy of Escort, 60+ edition). However, Mums presence didn’t go un-noticed. That night, the fellowship discussed the potential reasons why mother insisted on accompanying us.
Adams ideas were a little lack-luster, suggesting that Mum secretly wanted to be a boy. He was 3 years older than me and even I found this idea moronic.
Shaun’s ideas however, were much more pertinent, the resonance of which still remain with myself, and the contemporary society we live in.
“It’s because there are loads of paedophiles out there. Don’t you know about Sarah?”
He was of course, referring to Sarah Payne.
Sarah’s abduction and murder back in 2000 acted as a catalyst to the nanny state from which we now reside. We seem so engrossed with risk aversion, that awareness is put on the back burner, and it is awareness that holds the key to overcoming our irrational fear of strangers.
Interaction and play is an essential part of child development, a notion that goes hand-in-hand with risk taking.
Interaction and play is an essential part of child development, a notion that goes hand-in-hand with risk taking.
In-fact, children even seek out such interaction with strangers. It might seem a little disturbing to hear, but even we did it as children. Remember playing knock-knock run on the door of the grumpy bloke who lived 2 doors down? We did this because it was fun. Today, children don’t seem to be fulfilling such rites of passage, because we are so scared that every stranger over the age of 18 has ulterior motives when looking at our children.
I look at other people’s children all the time. A) Because they’re immensely funny. I saw a child the other day licking a dog, simply because he had the resources to do so. B) Because they’re interesting. The way a child’s mind works is one of the most beautiful and un-corrupt sights to behold. Alas, I’m not a paedophile, I’m just normal bloke.
A man that plays with a child below the age of 10 is not necessarily a paedophile, some people are just nice. It might seem like a strange concept, but it’s true. In-fact, the vast, vast majority of men up and down the country ARE NOT PAEDOPHILES.
Statistically, there are no more paedophiles now than there were 30 years ago. However, the suggestion that there is, seems to have embedded itself as fact in the minds of parents throughout the country by “professionals” over the past 20 years.
Take for instance the opinions of Detective Chief Inspector Bob McLachlan, head of Scotland Yard's paedophile unit back in 2000, who suggested that based on “the latest police intelligence on crime patterns and specialist research material” there were potentially 250,000 paedophiles within Britain. At the time there were a mere 5,640 people in prison for sexual offences alone, not necessarily against children, but just sexual offences. Now, with this in mind, Scotland yard can’t have been performing to their full potential if there were a quarter of a million paedophiles on the loose, and they had managed to bag up to 5,640 of them? Essentially, it was complete speculation, once again re-enforcing the moral panic surrounding stranger danger.
This idea alone has clearly had an impact on parents. Based on the Annual Review of Public Health in 2001, the percentage of children who walked to school in 1980 was 80%, whereas in 1990 it had dropped to a staggering 9%.
It’s clear then that our anxieties are completely irrational. Here’s another statistic that may or may not settle your nerves.“Stop It Now,” an American organization devoted to the prevention of child abuse found that 90% of victims knew their abusers, being family members or friends of the family. Maybe it’s Uncle Nigel the nonce we need to be more aware of, and not the weird bloke who lives by the pond shouting at ducks.
I don’t want to seem arrogant or insensitive, as I know there is a direct victim at the center of such statistics, but what concerns me more is the moral panic that will un-doubtedly ensue following cases such as Sarah Payne, and the detrimental effect it will have on the way parents raise their children. It’s not fair to ruin more children’s lives by seizing their freedom, irrespective of the potential, completely disproportional risks.
There is something amaranthine around the whole notion of childhood innocence. As children we seek to over-come both physical proximal boundaries, but also psychological ones. This is an essential part of growing up in the progression towards autonomy. Ask yourself where was the most special, exciting and magical place you played as a child? Now ask yourself whether or not it was outside? My favorite place was an old ditch 2 miles from my house. I would spend days jumping around in the dirt, sliding down the clay cliff-sides, cutting and grazing my legs in the process on old bits of corrugated iron in what seemed like the deleted scenes from The Deer Hunter. It was awesome.
Freedom was my friend, as I’m sure it was yours. Our obsession with risk aversion is ludicrous, just as the prospect of living a risk-free childhood is ridiculous. Instead, let’s create a culture enforcing resilience as opposed to protection. An environment where action is proportionate to the actual probability of danger, and an environment whereby children can play freely, interacting with adults as they wish.
2 primary school children are killed by strangers every year. There are 4,093,710 pupils in the UK. So, if you are foolish enough to withdraw your child’s childhood with such a disproportionate, irrational and downright neglectful mindset, then don’t be surprised when your 18 year old son/daughter takes to bungee jumping, sky-diving or extreme cliff diving as a nice, easy form of release. You have been warned.
