A man in San Francisco likes to jog and stop at the park to do some pull ups. This particular park is near the start/end of the jogging trail by the old Presidio. He checked his phone a few times, then jogged off. A bunch of mothers freaked out and called the police.

Moms have mobilized in recent days against the man they say shows up at Mountain Lake Park playground without kids, does pull-ups, offers kids candy and takes pictures of boys and girls using his cell phone.

The parents, fearing the white man wearing sunglasses, slacks and a jacket while at the park might attack their children, launched a widely-circulated e-mail campaign that earned much attention from community groups and an investigation by the San Francisco Police Department.

So a bunch of paranoid parents over react to a situation and put an innocent man in potential trouble. What would have happened if a mother, gasp, actually spoke to the man? They would have discovered he wasn’t handing out candy and he wasn’t taking pictures of children. When the police did this very thing, they discovered he was harmless.

“He allowed officers to examine his cell phone and his laptop computer,” the report said. “He stated that he hadn’t taken any photographs. He explained that he was looking at his phone’s screen while using the telephone’s stopwatch feature as part of his workout.”

Apparently, there are signs in the park that prevent adults from being there with a child.

Police then told the man about signs in the park that say adults are prohibited from entering the children’s play area except when they are with children,” Corriera said.

Curiously, would a sign in the park really prevent any abuse or abduction from occurring? Even as an adult, people enjoy going to the park and hanging out or swinging on swings. Why should citizens be forced to pay for public parks and then be prevented from using them?

This incident reinforces the belief that, if you’re a man, you must be a pedophile. Why else would be around children? There are many men today who are terrified of being around children for this very reason. How many men might have been elementary school teachers or doctors, but 21st century political correctness made them reconsider?

These women acted irresponsibly in creating a witch hunt for this man. They had little justification for their actions a relied on rumors in preemptively judging this man as guilty. Their frivolity towards assuming this man was a pedophile only serves to make men more paranoid than they were before.

Many people like to use the local park when they want to exercise, but cannot afford a gym membership. The monkey bars are great for pull-ups. So are the high bars, if the park has them. Swings are a great place for some cardio workout or just relaxing at the end of the day. You don’t need to be eight to appreciate swings. Parks are also places where people sunbathe, play Frisbee, and toss around a football.

There is also the fact that the women should be looking more at themselves and their families if they’re worried about someone abusing their children. A child is more likely to be abused by a friend or family member than some guy looking at his cell phone. Unfortunately, parents, such as the mothers in this story, won’t ever see the error of their ways, nor will they feel any shame in the matter.

They will still think that they did the right thing and that, maybe, next time, they’ll catch the pedophile. At the very least, they’ll pat themselves on the back thinking they did a good job warning off all would-be pedophiles from “their” park.

The media’s constant hammering of the idea that men must be predators is also partly to blame. They drill the idea into ignorant parents’ heads that all men are to be looked upon suspiciously. These parents then go out in the world believing that there is a pedophile around every corner and over react the first time a man comes near children. Over zealous parents need to step back and observe the situation objectively before potentially ruining another person’s life.

Unfortunately, incidents such as these, complete with signs telling adults that they are not welcome, are becoming all too common. They teach their children that the world is far more dangerous than it really is, essentially telling the children that only they can protect the children. Instead of letting children explore and enjoy the wonders of the world, adults are busy putting up signs that cover their collective asses.

Sadly, for these women, next time, they still won’t see a jogger.