I think it's because we've been media blitzed with stories about men abducting, raping, molesting, killing children for way too long.
It's not that I don't think we should all be aware of it and of the dangers, but c'mon the lead story on the cable news channels the last couple of days has been Michael Jackson. Not to mention, the news channels constantly breaking in to announce the latest Amber Alert and the endless litany of press conferences and speculation between the news anchors themselves and the endless parade of experts they bring in.
It really isn't any surprise that the public perception has shifted as far as it has.
I occasionally pick my nephew up from school. They don't allow you to wait in the office (I guess they have more important things to do
)so, I wait in the hall. Now, bear in mind, I'm a pretty average looking guy. Pretty clean, wearing respectable clothes, no piercings, no tattoos. Just your average run of the mill fellow.
I can't tell you how many times, I've had teachers stop by to ask me what I'm doing. I've watched lines of marching children shift away from me as they walk by. About a month ago, I had one of the big, burly gym teachers (I have a gym teacher radar...it's a gift? ) march up to me and demand to know what I was doing followed by a barrage of follow up questions. After the first couple, I just told since it didn't matter what I said, why not just pull up bit of the wall and wait with me if he was so damn worried about it.