A MAN walks into a playground and sits down. He pulls out his phone and starts taking photos. Do you:

a) Wonder what he’s taking photos of and smile at how much fun your kids are having.

b) Don’t even see him because you’re too busy enjoying the sunny day.

c) Engage him in a conversation about photography.

I was in a park when this scenario occurred, what happened next left me mortified.

A mother rushed up to me with a look of panic in her eyes. Fuelled by the fear of stranger danger and the bizarre notion that a man without children simply must be a pedophile, she wanted action.

“He’s got a camera,” she hissed at me. “We’ve got to get him”. I didn’t react, continuing to push my daughter on the swings, more concerned by this woman’s behaviour than what this stranger was doing, which seemed quite innocuous.

“Aren’t you worried?” she continued. “Look, he’s near the children”. To me he seemed more focused on trees, not toddlers.

The polar-fleeced protector rushed towards another group of parents. Waving her arms and pointing her finger, they eagerly bought into her drama and moved towards him like a lynch mob.

Rising to his feet he smiled, appearing to welcome them. They ranted and he recanted, leaving the park with head bowed. Satisfied, the parents high-fived each other.

Disgusted (and curious), I followed him and asked him what he was doing in the park. In less than perfect English he said he was here from Oman studying a Masters degree and had come to the park for to take in some nature.

Missing his own children, he was enjoying watching our kids play. The photos were of the birds and the trees so he could show his family. He didn’t read the sign that said if you don’t have children with you, you’re not allowed into the park and was very sorry he’d broken the rules ...

Yep. A sign saying you can’t come into the park unless you have kids with you. What have we become? Paranoid.

I’m all for the likes of Rolf Harris being forced to stop playing with their wobble boards. Sex offenders should be kept far away from children and its proper that they incur the full wrath of the law.

However, not all men that talk to children or enjoy the company of children are “grooming” them.

We wonder why so few males go into teaching? Go figure. Who’d want to spend the rest of their career being questioned as to the real motivation for working in the teaching profession?

Here’s a conundrum. If you’re an adult male and you walk past a kid who’s just fallen over, do you stop to help the child and potentially get accused of molestation, or do you ignore your inherent niceness and walk on by like a callous bastard?

And if you love footy and want to coach a team but don’t yet have kids of your own? Do you really want to coach or do you have more sinister intentions?

According to some, Santa’s just trying to get kids to sit on his lap, volunteering at swimming day is a ruse to perv on 6-year-olds in the change room, and if you’re a bloke who tells a little girl he she looks really cute in her party dress most mothers will dial 000 so you can have a nice chat to the police.

It’s time that we back off and start to show some respect (and thanks) to the thousands of normal men out there.

It’s important that our children know about personal boundaries and inappropriate behaviour. That they know to speak up if somebody approaches them or touches them in a harmful or sexual way. It’s important that they know to be wary of risky situations.

But it’s equally important that our children learn to socialise, to interact with people, to feel a part of a community and to not be paranoid that every stranger is dangerous. This is a warped view of the world.

“It takes a village to raise a child” but we seem to have forgotten that this village includes men. Let’s be a bit nicer to them.

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