I used to volunteer as an adult advisor to a youth organization, with members from 7th to 12th grade. I worked with a female advisor.

It was a great exerience, and the organization was well served with training and resources for the volunteers. Each year we got risk management training, for example.

But something started to happen in the late 90s. Accusations against adults who work with kids, both professionally and as volunteers, were increasing, and the risk management training began to emphasize practices which eliminated any chance of adult male finding himself alone with a youth. Ideally, an adult male would ALWAYS have an adult female present, even in groups. But never ever ever ever should he allow himself to be alone with only one other youth.

It would be an understatement to say that I started to feel paranoid. If one of the kids approached me in a hallway I'd check to see if we were in sight of others. If not, I'd find others as quickly as possible. I would postpone or cancel meetings if the adult female volunteer couldn't be present.

The women I volunteered with never felt the same degree of anxiety. Most felt the process was unfair, that it put the male volunteers (and professionals) in a position of fearing the kids were ostesibly working to help.

In late 2000, I found myself driving a van ful of kids to an event, with my female co-advisor along. We stopped for a restroom break at a gas station with a food mart, and after using the restroom I went back to the van while the kids got snacks and drinks. One of the girls, a high school sophomore, came back before the others and we chatted for a minute until the others returned. She didn't actually get in the van, just stood beside the open side door.

Later, someone who wasn't even on the trip asked me what I was talking to the girl about when we were alone. I couldn't remember exactly -- it was innocuous "how much longer till we're there?" kind of talk. What I wanted to know was who told this person I'd been "alone" with this girl, and what the concern was. No concern, just wanted to make sure I understood the risks associated with being alone with a girl in my charge like that.

For one minute? In full view of the world outside a food mart? Me in the driver's seat of the van, her standing on the other side of the van chatting through an open door about something no more risky than the weather or the drive?

I quit. I'd had enough. Maybe my paranoia was unreasonable or irrational. All I knew is that the anxiety I felt about the risks associated with my volunteer work began to overwhelm me. I used to enjoy working with the kids, but I came to loathe every event, afraid of what might be misinterpretted or misconstrued. It just wasn't worth it anymore.

That was over five years ago. I've since heard that the organization I used to volunteer for is having a harder and harder time finding adult male volunteers. I wonder why.

I don't mind it, why do you?

Why anonymous minds it, or the fact that you don't isn't really the point, is it?

The functionality isn't working quite right. It's a usability problem for the site. Not the end of the world, sure, but a valid issue nonetheless. From an operations standpoint, it would probably be a matter of some concern, since it probably impacts page views which can influence everything from ad revenues to staffing decisions.

Maybe they're working on it. Maybe not. Maybe if enough people mention it, they'll decide it's worth putting more energy into solving. Or not. It doesn't hurt to point out a flaw, even if it is a fairly minor one.

What I'm not wondering in the least is why you mind that anonymous minds.

In an episode of Firefly Shepherd Book threatens Mal with the special hell reserved for child molesters and people who talk in the theatre.

George Bush turned his life over to God too. I think we all know how well that worked out.

I suppose it could be that for the adults LL is all about amassing power, winning at all costs, etc. But the kids appeared to have learned sportsmanship somewhere. Which I suppose would make their achievement that much more laudable if it didn't come from their parents and coaches. However, I suspect that at least some of it came from those places. I also believe that being in the spotlight on national TV makes the coaches put their best face forward.

It does come from parents and coaches, just not all of them, and with increasing rarity as you work your way up in the Little League structure. In my own experience, at earlier ages (t-ball, farm ball), the focus was on fun and fair play. By the time my own son got into LL minors, the darker elements began to rear their ugly heads: obsessive-compulsive coaches, hot-headed parents, etc.

In minors, probably more coaches than not were decent folks focused on fun and sportsmanship. By majors, the proportions had reversed and the parents were increasingly creepy.

Once you get out of the regular season and into the all-star tournaments, the coaches are, with rare-exceptions, win-at-all-costs egomaniacs, especially at the 12-year-old level. And the Little League organizations up the food chain are populated with arrogant authoritarians who care little for the kids and a lot for their own status.

Some of the kids keep their sense of fair play and sportsmanship, depending on the attitudes of their own parents and individual coaches, but as a rule, once you reach the district level in LL, the emphasis is on the egos of the adults running the show, and it's not pretty.