Banned for being single

If 2 singles a week go to the park in question, then it is only a very tiny number that will be disrupted by their policy.

Suprise suprise, I wandered around Mothercare AND Toys R Us today, all on my own, without being thrown out or even challenged (but was I being watched on cctv ?). Leicester must be an enlightened city.
I also wandered around John lewis, Aldi, Wickes and Poundland all with no trouble at all. Even managed to smile at a child in John lewis cafe.
Plus, when I was struggling to carry a tray and a stick in John Lewis, another customer carried my tray for me, definitely the Christmas spirit. (or was she chatting me up - wishful thinking)

Does it matter how many singles go to a park? They're not necessarily paedophiles. An elderly neighbour sits visits the park to feed the birds and watch the children play. She says there is nothing nicer than watching children play and listen to them laughing and having fun. Should she be banned from this innocent pleasure.

I am determined, next time I go to a park[personally have never been alone], to notice how many singles go through an entrance.
I would have thought that the number is tiny indeed.

You won't be able to go on your own.

I would be very happy to go to that park. Sounds like they are looking out for all users.

janerowena.
I presume this particular park has a particular reason.
A bit akin to an accident blackspot which needs to be dealt with, even if it is inconvenient to a small minority of other users.

Most paedophiles[I presume] choose to act alone.
[I know there are some paedophile rings]
The rule in the park is most probably not due to wanting to stop older women from entering alone. But they cant just stipulate no single men.

vampirequeen.
You said we can....or teach them ways to keep safe.

I am saying that teaching them to keep safe in no way means bringing them up in a climate of fear.

Young drivers cause/have more accidents than any other age group. We make the driving tests harder, we make them take more lessons and the theory has just become a lot harder too.

We don't clear the road of all other users.

soontobe....sorry I don't understand your post which with refers to:

We can either bring our children up in a climate of fear and damage their emotional development or teach them ways to keep safe.

I wasn't saying we should bring them up in a climate of fear. In fact I've been complaining about the climate of fear all the way through this thread.

Sorry, DGDs.

Ana
The BBC report only suggests that it's a recent policy, rosequartz

The park manager has been interviewed on our local BBC programme and it did sound as if it had been recently introduced.

Someone on a post gave a shudder.
Well, it wouldn't stop me going to Puxton park with the DGC, I would have thought that there is no more threat there (less now!) than anywhere else where young children play.

It's not just a soft play park, it is educational too - the DDs enjoyed watching the cows being milked!

catching up on this thread I see that opinion is still deivided over the unreasonableness of tarring all singles (over 18) with a paedophile accusation.
I suspect those who think single people potentially pose a real and present threat are not themselves singletons else they would realise that being single is not a predeterminate of behaviour - we singles are the same people as when we were not single (or never have been part of a couple.)
on a final note - if playgrounds and amusement parks and softplay areas (my idea of hell) are to be families with children only
- can we single adults have areas set aside for us with no noisy shrieking teens or squabbling children where we can enjoy natural sounds and not feel guilty about being a possible threat

Jane10. Thank you for doing the work that you do.

janerowena.
I could be wrong, but I dont think that the park in question has any problem with "a group of singles".
I dont think any of us are discussing "groups of singles" on this thread. Could be wrong.

I think singles do go alone to the cinema.
But not many people go alone to amusement parks.

A teen becoming an adult, and being treated as such is natural.

janerowena " Only 0.004% of males fantasised about having sex with a child," this should be more accurately be read as only 0.004% of males who agreed to complete the survey (how were they recruited btw?) actually admitted to fantasising about having sex with a child. Critical appraisal of research findings is crucial. Whenim64 provided extremely good accurate info.
In my line of work I`ve had grim days when I`ve thought all men fantasised about children. Sickeningly, I`ve had to confiscate the Mothercare catalogue before now.

vampirequeen.
It isnt an either or.
We should be able to manage to teach them ways to keep safe, and also not bring them up in a climate of fear.
It is a balance. And not a difficult one at that.

I completely disagree with banning all singles from amusement parks. Both of my DCs have gone to them with crowds of friends as singles and had a wonderful time. What an appalling idea. When does a teen become a single? Why should my 19 year old son be one day a child, the next day a suspected paedo?

There was a survey recently, done completely anonymously, about male and female fantasies and it involved thousands of people of all ages. Only 0.004% of males fantasised about having sex with a child, I think for females it was 0.001%. However they said that a fantasy was just that. So let's say that in every large town of above 100,000 there is one male paedophile - all of the other single males are about to be penalised just because of that one male. Which in many ways, they already are.

And yes, I do have several single male and female friends who go to the cinema by themselves. Being still in my 50s, I am of the first generation that didn't expect to marry. Many of my friends have never married at all, just as many are now divorced and I am the only sister of four with a husband/steady relationship. To think that I wouldn't be able to go to a park that we used to go to with the children for old times' sake with my sisters is literally incredible. I would be more than happy to trundle around Legoland completely unfettered by children.

Re-read your post Whenim- and yes, in this sense I totally agree about Europe catching up- after the fiasco in Portugal with little Madeleine. Apologies for scanning your post too fast and getting the wrong end of the stick.

Will have to check the situation for other European countries, including my own which is actually in central Europe but not 'in Europe' to check what happens in such cases with international cooperation. I live right on the border with France, and local police on both sides do work together more and more.

Soontobe, 'systems' have to compare one risk with another to decide where to allocate funds and support- this is what statisitics are for.

You have to compare, for instance, the risk of a cold with the risk of meningitis. The reality of risks for our children and grand-children have to be assessed to. What you do at individula level is of course your own choice.

Whenim64, why should 'Europe' catch up in due course? Surely it only makes sense if the risks assessed are shown to be great and a priority.

We can either bring our children up in a climate of fear and damage their emotional development or teach them ways to keep safe.

Good points, pompa. Despite working in child protection, I have given my children reasonable freedom, encouraged them to reply politely when kind strangers speak to them and not filled their heads with scare stories. I love to watch my SiL bathing his little girls and having them shrieking with laughter and it saddens me that some dads and grandads feel restricted because of the misinformation about touching or not that has been spread around. Yes, there is a lot of abuse of children - we can all do our bit to keep them safe if we see something worrying - but fortunately, most children are safe and the risks of accidents are higher than experiencing child abuse.

Yes I do consider BBC news to be a reliable source, the most reliable public source of information we have.
My DIL is a director with BBC News and I am well versed in the research that goes on behind every news item.

Personal opinion can be very localised.

Do you consider TV a reliable source?