When I look at my children's photo of their school's staff, I am surprised by the very low number of men in the picture. I'm am sure that the fear of being accused of sexual misconduct probably plays a big role in the reason behind the low number of male school faculty members, but I believe economics plays an even bigger role. Women are more likely to prefer a job that is rewarding, where as men are going to be more concerned about salary. My mother was a Montessori school director of a Montessori school that she ran out of house, and in my youth I had considered a career in teaching, until I realized how discouragingly poor teachers are paid and treated. As a man I am concerned about both the fear factor (as now both men and women believe they are unreasonably suspected) and the low pay associated with the teaching profession. Everywhere in the world, except in the United States, teachers are very respected members of their communities, and it is very sad that America doesn't do more to encourage male and female college students to pursue careers as teachers.

America is heading towards a major social crisis if we don't get a handle on the paranoia due to false accusations problem, and the low teacher salary issues. College students need to be informed about how extremely low the risk is of suffering from a false accusation, how easy it is to conduct your behavior in a manner that would dispel any suspicion of pedophilia, and that the department of education will ensure that all teachers will be able to make enough to fully support a family in any geographical location in the country.

Spreading paranoia based on obscure incidences is only exasperating the problem.

Yeah, AKA Smith. I hate the use of the word "fondling" to describe molesting as well. Fondling sounds like foreplay, and I image most couples fondle each other every night. A better word to describe what child molesters do, is "inappropriate touching," which is something I also use to describe sexual harassment. Child molesting is basically sexual harassment of a minor, as the behavior of both child molesters and sexual harassers is essentially the same, only the age of the target/victim is different. When my wife and I (always together) teach our children "age appropriate sex education," we always use the phrase "inappropriate touching," and never "fondling" to describe what child molesters do.

AKA Smith. Everyone learns more from example than they do from any other source, and I have often noted that sexual offenders are usually quick to point out that they were abused as children themselves. Part of the problem, I believe, is because most molestation victims do not get the treatment they needed, because they were never recognized as victims (or they were too poor to receive treatment). And another problem is that therapy for molestation victims doesn't focus enough on what the victims have "learned" from their traumatic experience (this is particularly true of boys).

A very good way to prevent a lot of children from becoming future molesters/sex offenders, is to identify every child who is a victim, even if their molester(s) aren't going to be taken to trial, and getting the child victims the help they need as soon as possible.

"The sexual touch of a child molester is exactly the same as the sexual touch of an adult lover."

NO, it's not. Fondling is something that a person does after he or she has expressed genuine, legal, mutual affection to a lover, and had their expression of affection accepted by their lover without coercion or intimidation. Where as "inappropriate touching" is done to a target/victim without mutual affection (or at least not legal, mutual affection), and often with coercion and/or intimidation.

I agreed with the rest of what you wrote anonymous 03:59 PM, but there is a huge difference between fondling and inappropriate touching.

Also I couldn't tell if you were making clear that a "sexual touch" between an adult and minor is never acceptable. I assume you feel that sexual touching between adults and minors is unacceptable, but you make yourself more clear.

You sufficiently freaked me when you wrote about your experience with a group of pedophiles, but thanks for the awareness of how these monsters think.

The real sad thing is, is that they actually have group support.

Something has to be done about that. Any organization that enables pedophilia, should be labeled a criminal organization, and brought to justice in the interest of public safety.

One other piece of leftychris' argument that has stuck in my craw, is that male doctors and male preachers/ministers/priests are probably accused of child molesting at, at least, as great a rate as male teachers are (though I suspect actually at an even greater rate), but the disproportionate numbers of men in both professions (medicine and the clergy) has not declined much in the past 3 or 4 decades.

Why is it that men would feel uncomfortable in school classrooms and playgrounds, but not in hospitals or in religious institutions?

My guess is that it is because doctors and preachers/ministers/priest are still very respected members of their communities (who wield huge amounts of unofficial authority), despite the fact that lots of doctors and preachers/ministers/priests have been convicted of child molestation. And also because doctors and preachers/ministers/priest get paid better than teachers do.

The intent and action may be the same, but the interpersonal exchange is not.