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Comment by bsder | Hacker News Reader

> In Japan, every apartment building of size has maintenance people who stay several years and know all the children in the neighborhood, and recognize strangers. Every supermarket has parking attendants. Every construction site has "guards" to make sure people cross the area safely. Every train station has staff around.

It is difficult to have this when a man interacting with a small child is at risk of being accused of being a pedophile.

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I fully agree agree. The most shameful moment I experienced in England, when I lived there with my small children whom we'd previously raised in Japan, was when I was asked by a concerned parent whether I had a permit to be in a place where children were present. Apparently all of those other parents had already applied to the government and been vetted to be in a play room attached to a public library.

That was when I realised things were not the same in England. I felt sickened and angry at a such society-wide presumption of guilt.

In the US, any adult male who wants to be an elementary school teacher is looked at as a potential predator. Parents will literally ask to have their kids transferred to a different class because of it.

I am a Spaniard who lived in UK and I feel that this is the most sick aspect of British society. For them, every single man is a monster that will molest children if he has the opportunity.

Things like sitting on a bench to read next to the children's playground, or crossing a park next to them, can put you in trouble.

Most of what was described is people protecting children or pedestrians not by interacting with them, but by interacting with motorists, strangers, etc. For example, many construction sites in Japan, as well as many shopping malls and large car parks, have a person at the exit who watches the street and stops vehicles from exiting when cross traffic is present. A pedestrian, child, or cyclist on the pavement need not do anything, the system is passive for them.

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