Contrary to the name of the show I am putting on in August (The Dangerous Lives of Children) I do all I can to keep my kids safe and sound on a daily basis. We live on a busy street, so since day one, I have pounded (gently) into the kid’s heads that they can’t play near the street. Once a year we allow them to frolic in the street, and that’s only when the annual Rose Parade makes its ponderous trek down our street towards the park for its finale. We have talked about stranger danger and all the other biggies, and we avoid places that might put them in danger on a regular basis (strip clubs, motorcycle gangs, tattoo parlors etc.). So imagine my surprise when we go to Nixon Park and try to cool off in their pool/water park and there is a guy there with an electronic tether on his leg.
OMG. WTF.
There is a scene in Todd Field’s 2006 movie “Little Children” that shows Jackie Earle Haley’s character, a convicted sex offender (who is key to the plot) diving into a crowded public pool with a mask and snorkel. An observant parent recognizes him, sounds the alarm, and the pool is cleared quicker than a shark warning on a beach. The camera catches him swimming around underwater, oblivious (or not) to the commotion he is causing on deck. That scene flashed in my mind as I watched this guy float around the pool taking pictures with his camera (why he was taking pictures, I don’t know, it just added to the ick factor).
My heavily sun-blocked skin crawled in the staggering heat.
I posted this lovely tidbit of my life on Facebook and for the most part, the responses from my 400 + friends were all supporting my WTF questioning of this guy being in a public space under police surveillance. There were however, some detractors who felt I wasn’t giving him the benefit of the doubt and thought that I was being too harsh on him and my judgment. I stood firm though and pointed out that there are some places where criminals shouldn’t go… including public pools with an emphasis on kids and toddlers. The rest of my short list would be petting zoos, the kid’s area at any amusement park, the juvenile books department of any public library and any Toddlers and Tiaras contests in the area.
My favorite quote from the bible (the one that I like to toss around to all the fundies in my life) is Matthew 7, “Judge not, that you be not judged. But when it comes to my kids and their safety, I will judge you, and I will watch you, and you are guilty in my book until you are proven innocent or you can prove to me that you are only doing time for check fraud.
Until then, watch your back and stay away from my kids.
Amen and Testify. And I'm a secular-humanist Jew.
ReplyDeleteGood Going...certainly my thought process as well...
ReplyDeleteHappy FF!
When my daughter was still in preschool, the police notified the entire neighborhood that a convicted child molester was moving in. He'd served 7 years and owned a house on our block. There was nothing we could do about it. At first I was freaked out -- all of us were -- but as the months past I began to realize that he wasn't a threat because we all knew who he was. We were able to point him out to our kids and tell them to stay away from him. It was far more concrete, and therefore less terrifying, than the whole amorphous "stranger danger" thing.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that there should be some places criminals shouldn't go, but I've also come to realize that guys with electronic tethers are at least identifiable as potential dangers. It's the ones we don't know about that concern me. The ones that hurt children rely on secrecy and shadows -- those are the ones who are the real threat.
Thanks for posting this!
All you did was keep an eye on the guy, so I don't see why someone might complain that you "didn't give him the benefit of the doubt". It's not like you went over to him and punched him in the face.
ReplyDeleteAt least he stood out with his "radio". It's all the pervs without any "radios" we should be worried about.
As the very protective and proud uncle of two I would kill anyone who even looked my neice and nephew funny. I also think we need a better system, not all criminals are created equal.
ReplyDeleteAbout 12 years ago, a man moved into town and opened a butcher shop - Our little town badly needed that shop, we didn't have a grocery store of any kind at the time. He was immediately busy. 6 months after opening a rumor went around that he was a sex offender and was listed on the website of registered sex offenders. Of course everyone stopped shopping there, and in a matter of months he was closed, lost his house, his car, and his wife.
It turns out that he was convicted of statutory rape of a minor. That minor was his wife. Her family had pressed charges, he was sentenced and served time and immediately married. He was a year older than she was. Was he guilty - yes. Of course, by that standard, many of my friends and neighbors could have been charged with the same crime.
Are we assuming he's a child molester because he has a bracelet and is at the pool? Hey - as long as there aren't tell-tale hammer marks on the thing...
ReplyDeleteThis kind of stuff doesn't bother me. Because I will kill anyone who touches my kids. Of course, then *I* will have one of those nifty bracelets. (Because I will get paroled because my murder was a crime of passion which was accentuated by menopause).
Martha Stewart wore a bracelet. I'd be in good company.
My favorite quote from the bible (the one that I like to toss around to all the fundies in my life) is Matthew 7, “Judge not, that you be not judged. But when it comes to my kids and their safety, I will judge you, and I will watch you, and you are guilty in my book until you are proven innocent or you can prove to me that you are only doing time for check fraud.
ReplyDelete-Brilliant! I feel the same way. I think I turn into Mr.T. I pity a fool that messes with my children! :)