why you need to have the kid over? a kid doesn't think about that stuff. "oh, i have to go home and we'll go grab mcdonalds in the morning? oh good, i won't notice because i'm a kid." just being around for a kid is enough. why do they need to sleep at your place? that's weird. don't support that, support something like better schools and just see the kid in the morning.

Rape happens during the day and in public!
protection is not shutting off the world?

Seems some people still don't understand that the molesters are in the church and in the police department and in congress?

seems D'Amelio is missing a huge point and fails to realize "thee" factor.

As an adult -- especially a male adult -- it's best just not to interact at all with children who aren't related to you. It's too risky. One allegation of something untoward, whether eventually proven or not, can ruin your life.

@4- got that right. As a partnered gay man with 2 now-grown sons of my own, I have wanted to be a part of BBBS, foster parenting, etc, since my boys left home.
HOWEVER, I'm not willing to risk even the slightest allegations, mis-understandings, or issues with xtians who might have a problem simply because I'm gay.
As for sleep-over situations, I'm with Mr Robison- deal with individual problems. If you wanted to take a kid on an over-night trip, you're SOL now. Sad for these kids (doubt they ever get out to see much), sad for the adults who want to help, sad for the BBBS organization.

I'm a bit shocked by the outrage expressed by David.

I mentor an 11-year old girl through Big Brothers Big Sisters and completely understand the policy change, because I believe that BBBS knows more about child safety than I do.

Personally, the fact that my Little Sister and I don't sleep under the same roof from time to time hasn't kept us from developing a strong and lasting relationship. We see each other every week for four hours, and - although we find plenty of activities to do in and around Seattle - what's most important to my Little Sister is that she can count on me.

Given this, overnights are definitely less important to me than the supports my Little Sister, her mother, and I receive through BBBS. The organization has made a huge difference in our lives, and I will continue to support their work with my time and money.

OH MY GOD, stop the madness! i don't know why this is so fucking irritating to me. maybe it's because this ran on SLOG, then on FOX (FOX! c'mon!) and is now on the front page of thestranger.com. seriously? i don't get it.

let's do some thinking here.

1) how much do you want to bet that if you called BBBS and asked if taking AN UNRELATED MINOR OUT OF THE COUNTRY is in line with their policies that they'd say, "what the fuck?? ABSOLUTELY NOT!"

2) so this guy has been paired with his little for 9 years, right? let's say that this kid entered the program at 7... pretty sure that's the youngest they'll accept as a little. so, using the most conservative estimates, 9 + 7 = 16, or a JUNIOR IN HIGH SCHOOL. i am pretty sure that matches automagically close at either graduation or turning 18, making this kid between 16 and 18, probably on the cusp of graduating high school and leaving the BBBS program anyhow. so what the fuck is this dude freaking out about? that, for the next few months to a year, he can't have this UNRELATED MINOR CHILD SLEEP OVER?

3) he "resigned"?? PLEASE. you weren't elected, dude. you "quit" because no one at an agency that deals with THOUSANDS of adult/child mentoring pairs didn't ask your permission before deciding that the risks of allowing UNRELATED MINORS AND ADULTS HAVE SLEEPOVERS outweighed the benefits.

4) and since we're addressing the point of there being THOUSANDS of matches, there were THREE other bigs that had complaints? 4 divided by 1500 = 0.00266666667, or 0.266666667% of bigs had a problem with this. OH MY GOD, it's an outrage!

5) if this dude were in the program for the right reasons, he'd be less of a bitch about this. he'd support the program and its concerns for child welfare and even if he didn't agree with the changes, he wouldn't try to drag the organization through the mud because it put a stop to his international sleepovers. going to the media over something that, in the grand scheme of things, is a small fraction of the overall relationship between the bigs and littles (sleepovers:everything else) and ultimately inconsequential... THAT'S an overreaction.

so, yeah, i think this guy is totally creepy and weird for being so weird and creepy about this totally reasonable policy change.

Fucking pedophiles. Is there anything they don't ruin?

Most any program that provides services to kids will tell you how much they need adult males to volunteer.

And then, when you do, you get to get fingerprinted and background- checked and all that fun stuff, and you still get to deal with some people thinking you're a perv.

Boy scouts and Girl Scouts and Field trips and No more school bus?

Its the Media freaks that the American public are brainwashed by into over kill over thinking and over reaction.

Your basically saying that Americans are "all" Pedophiles if you feel it unsafe for Americans to watch kids.

But yea! off they go to the boy scouts and camp wacky and Police boat ride alongs and taking public transportation to school? and off to Penn State?