http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/us/the-trial-that-unleashed-hysteria-over-child-abuse.html?partner=rss&emc=rss&_r=2
Heather
Tokyo Yesterday
I was a young child when this story was in the news. I now have a young son myself, and most of my friends are the same age I am. This case (and other similar ones in the 1980s) absolutely got into people's minds and made them paranoid. I have several friends who are just convinced that child molesters are hiding behind every bush. I know that sexual abuse is a real, rampant problem-- but not in exactly the way my friends believe it to be. It's a shame that these parents, damaged by the incessant news during our childhoods, are now hypervigilant and paranoid, and daily send messages to their children that the world is a terrifying place, and that evil people are everywhere.
Following is a quote from one of the bloggers that grew up with this mentality that has been very active in promoting the hysteria in Nachlaot who definitely sees molesters hiding behind every bush.
Secondly, we are staying because my mom is a psychiatrist who has spent several decades treating victims of sexual abuse as well as numerous pedophiles, and she has adamantly told me again and again that we should definitely not leave Nachlaot. “(redacted), believe me, there are perverts EVERYWHERE. At least now, in Nachlaot, you know who they are, more or less.
