<p>I’m with Barron on this … and yes I’m a guy … with two parents one of whom is a women, one sibling who is a women, one life partner who is a women, three children one of whom is a women, and with the majority of my closer friends being women.</p>
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<p>I understand that is how you feel … but statistically date rape is by far the biggest risk college women face of being raped. As a parent do I want my daughter to be prudent and careful? Of course. That said, do I expect every one of her dates in college to be somehow vetted by my wife or I because of the risk … absolutely not … and those dates a tremendously bigger risk. So do I want her to be careful about arranging transportation? Absolutely, but I’ll trust her judgement in this less risky situation just as I’ll trust her judegement in the more risky situation of dating.</p>
<p>I grew up in the 60s when we left our doors unlocked and us kids were allowed to wander around town unsupervised. This almost never happens now as it is unsafe. However the typical safety precautions of parents do not deal with the higher risk situations. Kidnappings by strangers are way down than in the past … the vast majority of “kidnappings” now involve situations like non-custodial parents. In the 30s if a kid was taken from a bedroom by a stranger the local town knew and noone else … in the 2000s the whole country knows. Child abuse is commited in the vast majority of case not by strangers but by known people in positions of trust (adult relative, teacher, coach, priest). </p>
<p>The punch line for me … focussing on the risk of strangers is not focussing on where our kids face the most risk … and in many cases strangers or people not so well known are more likely to support a kid having issues with a trusted adult (what you think my brother abused you? you must have misunderstood). My kids need to learn to be prudent and careful and to develop good radar about bad situations … but strangers are a lot lower on my list of concerns than for most people replying to this string.</p>