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I don’t want George Jetson’s flying car. I want George Jetson’s car that folds up into a briefcase so you never need to find a parking space.
Kids are in far more danger from people they know -- youth group leaders, religious leaders, teachers, parents, other relatives -- than they are from strangers. Very, very few molestation events, kidnappings, beatings, or murders are committed by strangers -- they’re almost always people we know.
But there are parents who don’t let their kids walk to school, even when it’s within visual range of their own houses. Parents who always wait with their kids at the school bus stop. Parents who always need to know where their kids are, because they’re afraid of their kids being harmed by strangers.
Why are we scared of strangers, rather than the actual danger of people we know? Because the idea that it’s people we trust that we ought not trust, rather than people we DON’T trust is too scary. We’re scared of strangers because that’s less scary than being scared of what we OUGHT to be scared of.
Kids are in far more danger from people they know -- youth group leaders, religious leaders, teachers, parents, other relatives -- than they are from strangers. Very, very few molestation events, kidnappings, beatings, or murders are committed by strangers -- they’re almost always people we know.
But there are parents who don’t let their kids walk to school, even when it’s within visual range of their own houses. Parents who always wait with their kids at the school bus stop. Parents who always need to know where their kids are, because they’re afraid of their kids being harmed by strangers.
Why are we scared of strangers, rather than the actual danger of people we know? Because the idea that it’s people we trust that we ought not trust, rather than people we DON’T trust is too scary. We’re scared of strangers because that’s less scary than being scared of what we OUGHT to be scared of.