Fossils Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Police appeal for information after a man offered a lift to a child on a main road in the Isle of Man. Source : http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/...man/6249298.stm Isn't it great that scumbacks can roam the Island every night leaving a trail of mindless vandalism (is there any other sort?) in their wake, and the general public don't bat an eyelid to stop them? Yet someone, who might just have been innocently trying to be helpful, is guilty until he proves himself innocent. Is this a case of whitevandriverism? .............or is having a roof rack on your vehicle an offence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted June 28, 2007 Share Posted June 28, 2007 Agree with all the sentiments, particularly Observer's, regarding the loss of the freedom to be kind and human to others, because of this suspicion that there is no such thing as an altruistic act. But beyond that, what really concerns me is the drip feed of information to the public in these matters. Is there something about this incident that should cause parents to be on their guard, if so what is it? How many times do we have appeals from the police for information about an 'incident' between such and such hours in the area of x? Now come on, give me a clue and I will know what it is you are after and whether I can help. There is another recent example where after several days, all we are told is how the man died, but the police confirm it is still being treated as a suspicious death and are investigating the circumstances surrounding the death. It is not that I want all the gory details, but I do think that the limited information provided in such matters just smacks of a less than open government. Certainly we do not want details which could jeopardise the inquiry, but a crime is an offence against society as a whole and society as a whole should be kept informed. Why is this? Is it because we are a small community and so more proximate to these events, is the ordinary man in the street (patronisingly) considered unable to comprehend the event, is it because the police really do not know how to handle information dissemination, or is it something more sinister, (knowledge being power and all that)? It's not prurient interest, but I would like to be confident that our public servants feel that their obligation is to the public, and that part of that duty is to properly and appropriately inform the public; not to decide arbitrarily, (beyond what should, correctly, not be in the public domain), what we should or should not hear? Give me that confidence and I will ask no further questions as I will be assured that you, our public servants, are handling whatever matter in the correct and proper manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grumble Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 Fulcrum's post is a good read, but I don't agree that 'the media' is responsible for this shift in sensibilities any more than I think Chris Morris should have been crucified over the Brass Eye 'paedophile special'. I think it's 40 years of (mainly left-wing) political intrusion into parenting and education, where minority interests outweigh the common good and people are taught their 'rights' without being coached on their responsibilities. We're told what and how to think about so many things these days, and common sense has little part to play in any of it. I yelled at one of my kids years ago, and to defuse my anger she said I had to be nice to her or she'd call Childline! It was meant as a joke (and worked) but she knew the number, having been taught at school what was and wasn't appropriate behaviour by parents! The fewer bloody experts and their 'focus groups' taking taxpayers money to come up with guidelines, the better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the mo beats experience Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 Ome good issues being brought up here, but slightly getting away from the point i think. There are nasty people out there, every couple of weeks there's someone in the paper having images on their computer, manx papers i mean. On the mainland its worse, Judges, cops, supposed holy men, on top of all the other wierdo's. Its not paranoia, its life, how could the papers get pictures of known peado's watching kids if they weren't sat in the park watching kids? The papers make it high profile because its a cancer in our society that needs to be rooted out. Its always been there, i know people my age or older that were abused as kids. The reason you find out about it now is because its encouraged to root them out. I agree with the posts about how we're not to spank kids now, its ridiculous the way its become and imo its why we've so many little shits roaming the streets that think they're above the law. All that besides, it has never been and will never be ok to get a lift from a stranger, no matter how charitable it may seem to be. Its what i and everyone has ever been taught growing up, the notion has never changed. Its completely different to making sure a kid doesn't get stuck in a hole. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 it has never been and will never be ok to get a lift from a stranger Quite so. I can remember being told as much at Primary School. But where do you draw the line between paranoia and common sense? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. Sausages Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 This is a no win situation. Unless the guy knew the kid, and the kid didn't recognise him, even if he was genuinely trying to help he was being really stupid. Kids shouldn't go off with strangers, so you don't put them in a position to have to make that choice. That might be a depressing thought, but that's life. Everyone's been taught that for centuries. If your child said to you that a stranger had offered him a lift, you'd report it, and you'd expect the police to look into it. If they sat back and said "we're not doing anything cos it might have been a good samaritan" they'd be accused of laziness and incompetence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 As Gladys pointed out, one of the biggest problems with this kind of story is the dearth of information to accompany it. The incident happened 'on a main road.' Right, well that narrows it down a lot, doesn't it? We're not told in what general area, whether there might have been some reason for a charitable offer - such as; was it pouring rain at the time and the kid had no coat? How far from home was the kid? What time of day did it happen - was the kid going to/from school, for example? Was there something else about the incident that flagged it as 'suspicious behaviour' on the part of the van driver? Why is it not mentioned on the police 'Appeals for Information' website - http://www.gov.im/dha/police/appeals.xml - ? Why is it given this publicity on BBC News, but not even a mention (so far) on IoM Today, Manx Radio, Energy FM News etc? Okay, with a list of questions like that I'm probably beginning to sound like copycat but, to be honest, it all sounds like a non-story to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silentbob Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 My heart wants to side with Buddy Christ and believe that things are still the way they were when I was a kid, and you could go out after school until it was nearly dark in the summer; getting up to no good, and starngers were just that....strangers. But in all honesty, in this fucked up world of peadophiles and murderers, we cannot pretend that because we are surrounded by water there are zero nutjobs among us. I expect the guy was just trying to be helpful, but you would not catch me stopping to speak to a child unless he/she was already in obvious distress. And even then the FIRST thing would be find out who they were and who I could call to let someone know where they were. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pragmatopian Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 ... this fucked up world of peadophiles and murderers.... You've been reading the Daily Mail too much! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keyboarder Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 in this fucked up world of peadophiles and murderers, we cannot pretend that because we are surrounded by water there are zero nutjobs among us Ooh, oh, I do like a young pulse. Does that make me a peadophile?............ lol,lol... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gladys Posted June 29, 2007 Share Posted June 29, 2007 See what you did there, Keyboarder, very funny! For once. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parchedpeas Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 Calm down dear. Look at the stats. More paedophiles than ever. Doing what? Being caught. All praise the honesytrap that is the internet. Most paedophiles are known to the children first, either being family or friends. This story is pathetic. Shame on Manx Radio, who post these stories for the BBC. Shame on the Police for even mentioning it. Bloke offers lift to kid. Kid say no thank you, because their 'stranger danger' training comes into play. AND THIS IS HEADLINE NEWS. A 24 hour media, with a new story every day, can JUST ABOUT surive in the UK. But the desperation in the Isle of Man t be a 'player' and have their own BREAKING NEWS story every three minutes is pathetic. Kids are safer now than they ever were. People who want to tug off over images of child sex can get their kicks on the Internet 66. They don't need to recreate the scene in the real world. PORN IS GOOD. It gives the sad lonely fuckers a chance to relive themselves without hurting anyone else. A man in a van OH GOD A VAN JSUT LIKE SARAH PAYNE offered a kid a lift. And we're here wasting time talking about it. Shame on us all. We are creating the society we already despise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Power Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 When I was a kid there were loads of peadophiles around! You got to know who they were and you kept away from them. You were warned to keep away from the well known ones by your parents. I learned to tell if someone was taking an unnatural interest in me or my friends and kept away fom them. We never even thought of telling anyone, let alone the police, that we had any suspicions, we may have been wrong. So how are kids ever going to learn to use their own common sense and judgement? I feel that society generally, whilst trying to protect people from every risk imaginable, is creating a race of complete imbeciles with no morals whatsoever! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sexyarse Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 I feel it does not really matter where you live now adays i think you have to have your guard up at all times to protect your children. I for one would tell my kids to never get in someones car unless it was offered by a family member . Its best to be safe than sorry these days thats for sure . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballaughbiker Posted June 30, 2007 Share Posted June 30, 2007 "What a sobering depressing thread." I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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