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Re: Research

Posted by WalkingInThePark on Thursday, October 16 2014 at 11:30:33PM
In reply to Re: Research posted by walkinginthepark on Tuesday, October 14 2014 at 00:25:49AM

I'm sure it depends on the person you're talking to.

Some people are pig headed and won't believe anything unless they read it in a newspaper. Most people I find however are more educated and can grasp the difference if they slow down to think about it.

You have to look at it from their point of view. Many people have been told that pedophiles are child rapists. They're told that people like adults except for a small number of people who are sick and want to rape children and they're called pedophiles. So that's what they think a pedophile is, that's the definition they've been given to work with for years on end.

The challenge is to break through that and explain that the above isn't a pedophile but a child molestor and in fact they are very different things. In fact it's important to understand the difference because it will help you to protect your children. It's an important subject that people need to understand, if they don't know the difference then they can't spot the real dangers.

In the case I gave earlier on mumsnet I think it was fortunate that the mum grasped the difference straight away. Perhaps she already understood the difference or perhaps because it was written in a trusted forum she slowed down long enough to process what was being said. I don't think that will always be the case.

I plan to speak up more on these forums about the difference in a similar way to the mumsnet post. If people react badly then I can point out the importance of understanding the difference because understanding what a child molestor is will help to protect against them and it's too important a subject to risk with misinformation. Perhaps this will allow me to explain the difference and draw people's attention to the importance of guarding against child molestors as opposed to fearing pedophiles. Pedophiles are people primarily attracted to children. It isn't illegal to be a pedophile. In fact it's estimated that 5% of males are pedophiles and 1 in 10 males are attracted to children. 1 in 10 is the same as the estimated number of people that are homosexual. So if you know 10 people you likely know someone who's attracted to children. It might be your colleague at work, your brother, the guy at the supermarket, your teacher, a nurse, a fireman, a policeman, a soldier, it could be anyone. Now it isn't illegal because it's just an attraction, a love for. Most pedophiles express their attraction by being friendly to children, talking to them and trying to protect them. They really aren't the danger.

Child molestors however are different. Child molestors are people who use their dominance to hurt and get sexual gratification from children. They may or may not be pedophiles, straight people, homosexual people or any other sexuality. They are people with little self control who are a danger to children.

Spotting a pedophile is very different to spotting a child molestor and people should understand the difference so they protect their children from the real dangers in this world.




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