If your child gets lost in a department store, who do you want him or her to find in the way of help? Picture your child’s ideal rescuer for a moment.

Is that person male? No? You’re not alone, says an article published online by the Wall Street Journal.

Guidelines issued by police departments and child-safety groups often encourage them to look for “a pregnant woman,” “a mother pushing a stroller” or “a grandmother.”

Even airline and sports guidelines are slanted against men, safety-wise. Forget about hugging a student athlete if you’re a male coach - don’t even touch your players. (So say soccer leagues.)

Given that the majority of sexual predators are male, perhaps it makes sense that we teach our children to mistrust men…but women can be dangerous, too, and I think we often forget that.

As the mother of a young girl, I am well qualified to speak on the dangers to young children as parents see them - as I see them. And I am disgusted by how extreme the bias against men as caregivers and youth leaders, etc.

It irks me when I send my husband with my daughter down a different aisle at the grocery store while I soothe our son in the second cart and he comes back red-faced because someone asked if our daughter was his, or gave him a funny look. I’ve seen those looks from people who didn’t realize I was also with him. Why the hell can’t he take his own daughter out and about without garnering suspicion??

He even gets the occasional raised eyebrow when he takes our son for a diaper change (not that that’s always possible, since men’s restrooms don’t have changing stations as often as women’s do - but that’s a separate rant altogether). And I guarantee that if he was the stay-at-home parent, he would have even more reason to believe that society views men in a largely negative light when it comes to children.

The article also points out that as a result of this view, more men are shying away from child-oriented professions such as elementary school teachers. Can you blame them? If you knew you were going to garner suspicion and negative feedback simply by virtue of your gender if you entered a certain career field, wouldn’t you think twice before doing so?

If my daughter ever gets lost somewhere, my only hope is that someone kind finds her quickly. I do not care one bit about their gender (or age, skin color, shoe size or fashion sense). She is more likely at this age, being a daddy’s girl, to seek a man for help. While I am aware that there are some truly sick people in this world, I do not believe that every stranger is a threat (though I will likely have to teach her over-cautiousness there anyway) and I certainly do not believe that just because a person is male, he is a greater safety risk to my children than someone of the same build and intent (whatever that may be) in a female body.

Most men understand the need to be cautious, so they’re willing to take a step back from children[…]. One abused child is one too many. Still, it’s important to maintain perspective. “The number of men who will hurt a child is tiny compared to the population,” says Benjamin Radford, who researches statistics on predators and is managing editor of the science magazine Skeptical Inquirer. “Virtually all of the time, if a child is lost or in trouble, he will be safe going to the nearest male stranger.”

Posted by Sunshining.

(See also: Men and the Fear of Working with Children.)