Once Again, the Dads-Are-Dangerous Meme Appears

Thanks to Peter Baylies, I have been following the plight of Rick Kasel, a dad in Surrey, BC, who was politely asked not to attend a local MeetUp for area moms because of "the security of our children." You can read the newspaper report here. You can read Peter's first take here. Peter has a follow-up here, where the mom who founded the group recoiled at the decision. ("I just wanted to let you know that I am the original creator of that particular meetup and was horrified by the decision of the new organizer.")

She's apparently working to create a new, inclusive group, which is absolutely wonderful. And she has everyone in the community behind her; the newspaper's poll is now running 9 to 1 against the decision to kick Rick out out of the group.

But ... if you know of any dad's groups (or parenting groups for that matter) in the greater Surrey area, by all means leave a comment for me here or for Peter. And thanks to Mike from DCMetroDads for being so good about shining a light on this.

For the record, I think this kind of exclusionary behavior is dumb. It's dumb when it's moms keeping dads out and it's dumb when it's dad keeping moms out. I'm not opposed to a guy's poker night or a mom's night out or any kind of small group that is designed to let friends blow off steam with members of the same sex, but when you start having daytime events, with kids, that are open to anyone with an internet connection, there's just no good reason for bouncing dads.

(Oh, and don't even get me started with the "security of our children" claptrap.)