I’d be lying to you if I told you I never side-eyed a single man sitting by himself at a playground.
In fact, I once left a park because I suspected someone was filming me and my kids on his cell phone. He kept directing his phone at an angle that seemed odd — like he was recording us. Of course, I couldn’t know for sure; I didn’t have any concrete proof and I didn’t want to wrongly accuse him and look like a jerk. But at the same time, my gut instinct told me to hightail it out of there, and so I did.
What would you do if you were in my shoes? Would you have said something to the stranger? Or perhaps call the police? Or better yet, would you walk up to the stranger and demand they leave the playground?
At least one politician wants to make sure __parents are never again put in this position — Los Angeles City Councilman Mitch O’Farrell has proposed a ban on all unaccompanied males and females from entering the city’s park playgrounds.
According to the Los Angeles Times, O’Farrell has said he’s proposing the ban based on laws that are already in effect in several major cities. The paper reports that many residents in Hollywood have even complained that drug dealers are taking over their local parks. Yet critics say there’s a huge difference between a drug dealer and a single 30-something professional male trying to eat his sandwich at a park during his lunch break. Should he get the boot simply because he doesn’t have a child eating sand in a man-made pit right next to him?
Don’t get me wrong; it is certainly is creepy for a single man or woman to lurk around a playground during daylight hours. And if you have someone clearly taking photos of children playing on the monkey bars, by all means arrest them. Supporters of the ban also point out that this is no different than seeing a childless male or female loitering near a school with an unlawful purpose. After all, as parents, we’re all in the business of protecting our kids.
On the other hand, there’s an undeniable level of fear-mongering going on here. We can’t punish the entire male (or female) population for a few bad apples. If the ban is passed, a single man could easily get arrested for merely eating a donut on his lunch break at the park. Or squeezing in a morning work out. Or taking his dog out for a walk. I don’t want to live in a world where everyone is scared shitless of each other.
I will never know for sure whether that man really recorded my kids and I that day at the park. And if so, what he’s done with the footage since. But what I do know is that it’s part of my maternal nature to shield my children from unwanted attention, potential predators, or — God forbid — anyone with illegal activity in mind. Should I have demanded to see what the man with the cell phone was recording that day? Maybe. Will I call the police the next time I sense someone might be jeopardizing my family’s safety at a park? Absolutely.
Still, I’m not so sure I’m totally on board with an all-out ban. I’m all for protecting our kids, but a part of me wonders if this ban, if passed, would be taking things a bit too far — and inciting more fear and paranoia in the process.