Would you let a teenage boy babysit your preschool girl?

[Anonymous]

My sister was raped by a teenage neighbor when she was around 7. For that reason, I wouldn't do it. It may not be fair, it may be stereotyping, but I just wouldn't feel comfortable with it.

[Anonymous]

No way. I wouldn't run the risk, see the immediately prior post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No way. I wouldn't run the risk, see the immediately prior post.

Because all teenage boys are rapists-duh!

[Anonymous]

Yes bad things happen. That doesn't mean you should limit the way you choose to live. Nor should you instill fear of men in your children.

[Anonymous]

So no male teacher, bus drivers & day care workers?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dad here. I find this thread terribly disturbing. I babysat kids even at the age of 11 and we've had both teenage boy and girl sitters for our son. They're all great kids. A lot of you moms are engaging in some pretty reprehensible gender stereotyping. You'd be appalled if a man made generalizations about girls/women (like, why hire a woman when she's only going to get pregnant and leave at some point...) but many of you are doing just that with respect to boys/men. Pretty appalling.

Thank you!!!
fwiw, I wouldn't let a good majority of these "mothers" babysit my kid. Yikes!

Amen and amen.

Agreed.

x5

[Anonymous]

Those of you who think it's fine to have a hormonal teenage boy babysit a young, helpless female child can do so. The OP asked if "YOU" would, and my answer is NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS. There is a difference between teenage boys and girls, although I don't think teenage girls have particularly good judgment either (thinking back to my babysitting days).

It's a risk I'm not willing to take. Period. Why continue discussing?

Feel "sorry" for the stereotyped teenage boys all you want. I think many teenage boys are smart, nice, even sweet. But I am more concerned with preventing even a 1 in a billion risk of harm to my child.

[Anonymous]

You say you know the boy and his family well, if you have seen him interact with your children and are comfortable with the interaction, I'd go for it. I'd rather have my children with someone they know and are comfortable with.. .male or female, teenagers or adults, than hire someone I don't know.

[Anonymous]

Babysitter Jonathan Then, dubbed the Manhattan Manny, pleads guilty to sexually abusing boy, 8

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/10/01/2009-10-01_babysitter_jonathan_then_dubbed_the_manhattan_manny_pleads_guilty_to_sexually_ab.html#ixzz0SjFD1cIv


A perverted babysitter who also worked in some of Manhattan's swankiest private schools pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy.

Disheveled in a suit with his hands cuffed behind his back, Jonathan Then admitted to a single count: first-degree criminal sexual act.

"Guilty, your honor," the 21-year-old disgraced childcare worker told Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Rena Uviller.

Then was initially charged with molesting four boys, ages 8 to 13, but prosecutors cut a deal to spare the children from testifying.

He faces 12 years in state prison when he's sentenced Oct. 15 - far less than the life sentence he could have gotten if convicted at trial.

Dubbed the "Manhattan Manny," Then pitched himself on his Web site as an "amazing big brother figure."

He worked as a volunteer classroom aide to second-graders and third-graders at Dalton and Trevor Day schools on the upper East Side.

Then also worked at summer camps in New York, Connecticut and New Hampshire, getting access to "hundreds of other young boys," prosecutors said when he was busted in May.

[Anonymous]

I love the fact that a dad comes on this thread to chastise the women who wouldn't have a teenage boy babysit their DDs, then 5 moms pile on with "oh, random dad, I SO agree with you!" I can almost hear the squeals and see the eyelashes batting.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Babysitter Jonathan Then, dubbed the Manhattan Manny, pleads guilty to sexually abusing boy, 8

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/10/01/2009-10-01_babysitter_jonathan_then_dubbed_the_manhattan_manny_pleads_guilty_to_sexually_ab.html#ixzz0SjFD1cIv


A perverted babysitter who also worked in some of Manhattan's swankiest private schools pleaded guilty Thursday to sexually abusing an 8-year-old boy.

Disheveled in a suit with his hands cuffed behind his back, Jonathan Then admitted to a single count: first-degree criminal sexual act.

"Guilty, your honor," the 21-year-old disgraced childcare worker told Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Rena Uviller.

Then was initially charged with molesting four boys, ages 8 to 13, but prosecutors cut a deal to spare the children from testifying.

He faces 12 years in state prison when he's sentenced Oct. 15 - far less than the life sentence he could have gotten if convicted at trial.

Dubbed the "Manhattan Manny," Then pitched himself on his Web site as an "amazing big brother figure."

He worked as a volunteer classroom aide to second-graders and third-graders at Dalton and Trevor Day schools on the upper East Side.

Then also worked at summer camps in New York, Connecticut and New Hampshire, getting access to "hundreds of other young boys," prosecutors said when he was busted in May.

No one said these things don't happen. They just don't happen as often as people think they do, we now live in a world of fear.

[Anonymous]

Hell no. My greatest duty is to my daughter. I am black but if I were white and distrusted black people I would not hire a black babysitter. I reserve the right to say no for any reason when it comes to my kids even if that makes me racist or sexist or ageist. Their violation is ten times worse than my moral turpitude.

So you are saying that if the title of this thread were "Would you let a black person babysit your preschool girl?" and a white parent responded "Hell no. I distrust black people," you'd have no problem with that?

[Anonymous]

I liked our male babysitter just fine growing up. Hi Harry, wherever you are.

Would I let just any teenage boy babysit DD? No, of course not. Not just any teenage girl either. I'm picky that way. But I don't think teenage boys are all rapists, or prisoners of their hormones. Give me a break.

[Anonymous]

I'm the PP whose sister was raped. I know that not all teenage boys are rapists, and I don't have problems with male teachers, day care workers, etc. But, I just don't feel comfortable leaving my DD ALONE with a teenage boy. I don't live in a state of fear, it is just my response to seeing what my sister went through.

[Anonymous]

I would not hire a random teenage boy to care for my young child. I wouldn't hire, for example, a teenage boy that my friend recommended, or that my neighbor recommended, or anyone else that I didn't know personally already.

I would without question let a teenage boy that I knew and trusted care for my child. I have known plenty of teenage boys who were, or would have been, great babysitters.

Also, what difference does it make whether the young child in question is a girl or a boy? A pedophile -- which is what we're protecting against here -- could abuse either. Do these moms honestly think that otherwise normal teenage boys are suddenly going to lose control and take advantage of a little girl? No. Normal people, even teenage boys, don't do that. Only pedophiles do, and time alone with a preschooler, even a girl, is not going to turn an otherwise normal teenager into an abuser. Can we all tell the difference between a normal person and a pedophile? No. But we do the best we can, and I will trust my instincts when it comes to people that I know personally.