A Debate Over Men Working in Child Care

Thank you to Dana Parsons for his reasoned protest--”Men in Day Care: Guilty Without Trial” (Jan. 28)--to Times Orange County columnist Dianne Klein’s indictment of all men who work in day care--”Fear Beats Logic. . . .” (Jan. 21). He is correct in suspecting that at least one woman found her commentary appalling.

I am the working mother of a 20-year-old daughter who spent 10 years of her childhood (3 to 13) in private schools in Orange County that employed or were owned by men. During all of those years, I welcomed the opportunity for her to be involved with staff as part of her nine-hour day away from my care.

In particular, the Bel Air Montessori school in Anaheim, where she spent her youngest years, offered “Mr. Man” (as he was affectionately known by the children) who patiently answered all questions, “great and small,” who showed genuine concern for her growth as a unique individual and who was also not afraid to provide discipline at appropriate moments.

As an adult survivor of childhood sexual abuse who has struggled to retain some degree of objectivity throughout the McMartin debacle, I was deeply offended by Ms. Klein’s dehumanization of all male child-care workers under the guise of “parental bias.” If you will remember, there were two defendants in this trial, one male and one female. Will Ms. Klein reject “grandmotherly looking” caretakers as well?

Though I have never publicly identified myself as a survivor, I think that such hysterical bigotry deserves to be publicly reproached by someone who has the personal credentials to challenge this type of newspaper writing.

JOY WANDEN

Anaheim