We should be reflecting why us adults cant provide that to them.
Well, we can blame at least part of that on the fact that nobody can actually talk to a kid whatsoever without it being a massive risk.
Like, of course people will be cold to most children when being kind to them (especially as a man) has a legitimately high risk of people accusing you of trying to groom/fuck them, if not assaulted under that assumption. Same with teens, where sites like tumblr showed how many of them were a walking field of landmines waiting to pull the "ACTUALLY IM A MINOR" card and get you cancelled for something they did.
Its an extreme problem how far this mindset has settled into all of us and our society. I volunteered for a lot of years with my local Big Brother-like program, and people were terrified to let their kids (who needed the help and guidance) be alone with an adult who had been checked 8dozen times to be safe. Even when I was walking around with my guy, 12 when I met him, it was a constant barrage of stares, stops and questions from strangers about what we were doing (hanging out at the library mostly).
Its not even a problem with a real good solution. Because there are legions of predators out there, but our fear of them has also damaged our children a whole bunch in another manner.
Well, we can blame at least part of that on the fact that nobody can actually talk to a kid whatsoever without it being a massive risk.
Like, of course people will be cold to most children when being kind to them (especially as a man) has a legitimately high risk of people accusing you of trying to groom/fuck them, if not assaulted under that assumption. Same with teens, where sites like tumblr showed how many of them were a walking field of landmines waiting to pull the "ACTUALLY IM A MINOR" card and get you cancelled for something they did.
Its an extreme problem how far this mindset has settled into all of us and our society. I volunteered for a lot of years with my local Big Brother-like program, and people were terrified to let their kids (who needed the help and guidance) be alone with an adult who had been checked 8dozen times to be safe. Even when I was walking around with my guy, 12 when I met him, it was a constant barrage of stares, stops and questions from strangers about what we were doing (hanging out at the library mostly).
Its not even a problem with a real good solution. Because there are legions of predators out there, but our fear of them has also damaged our children a whole bunch in another manner.