Glenn Melancon/Contributing writer
Many of the old German folk tales deal with risks and threats. Children needed to learn that there are dangers in the world.
What must of us don’t realize is that the dangers are closer to home than we want to admit.
Most of us prefer to believe threats come from strangers: “Stranger Danger.”
The story of Little Red Hood can illustrate the point. A wolf is the the villain, while the grandmother is the victim.
In reality children are more often than not hurt by someone they know.
“Trusted family” members hurt children.
“Good Christian” youth monsters, priests and preachers hurt children.
Coaches hurt children.
Rape occurs in the home. Abuse occurs in the home.
The predators in our society walk amongst us. We know them, and they know us.
This fact makes it harder to protect the people we love.
We simply don’t want to recognize and admit the threat.
We would prefer to believe there are wolves out there ready to pounce.
The Catholic Church refused to admit systematic abuse.
The Boy Scouts of America refused to admit systematic abuse.
The US Olympic Committee refused to admit wide spread abuse.
Criticizing something, or someone, we love is hard. Demonizing a stranger is easy.
A similar scenario plays out with guns. There is a paranoia sweeping through American about strangers with guns.
The reality the gun in the home is much more of a threat than a stranger with a gun. Accidental shootings and suicides kill and hurt more Americans than “Stranger Danger.”
As people bring more unsecured guns into the home for protection, who is more likely to get hurt?
A child? A family member? A friend?
The moral of the story is simple. Dangers and threats are real.
The paranoia around “Stranger Danger”, however, blinds us to the dangers in our own homes, churches and schools.
Glenn Melancon is a professor of history at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. He can be reached at glenn@glennmelancon.com. His opinions are his own and do not reflect those of the Jefferson Jimplecute.