> I've never seen so much paranoia about kids and males as in the US in other countries.
The US is, I believe (its been a while since I've seen stats on the perception and reality, this was definitely true last I did see them) in a multi-decade long media-driven misperception of a rising tide of crimes involving stranger (especially male stranger) abduction and violence against children, while the actual incidence of such crimes has been declining for decades. So, yeah, its probably a uniquely (or at least, especially) American thing.
The US is, I believe (its been a while since I've seen stats on the perception and reality, this was definitely true last I did see them) in a multi-decade long media-driven misperception of a rising tide of crimes involving stranger (especially male stranger) abduction and violence against children, while the actual incidence of such crimes has been declining for decades. So, yeah, its probably a uniquely (or at least, especially) American thing.