“Why my kids are never allowed to be alone with a man”

Everyone has specific rules when it comes to their own kids, often based around diet, or bedtimes, or how much screen time they get.

However, mum Leah McLaren has come clean about a rule she will never break when it comes to her kids: they are never, ever, left alone with a man – no matter who he is.

“Never alone in a room with a male teacher. Or a male doctor. Or a housepainter or a lawyer or birthday party clown,” she shares on Today’s Parent.

“I am honest with them about my rule and the reasons why. Some men are not to be trusted,” she continues.

“There are exceptions of course: my husband and all my kids’ grandfathers and step-grandfather. I also bend the rule for a few men I know really, really well. Like well enough that I’ve observed them over a period of several years and have spent holidays together.

“Both my brother-in-laws, for instance, gets a pass, as do a couple of my good friends’ husbands. But beyond that? Never alone in a room with a man.”

Leah says that while she’s aware she may come across as hyper-vigilent, she doesn’t see it that way – she’s merely trying to protect her kids.

“Of all the things we fear and guard against as parents, child sexual abuse is, unfortunately, one of the most likely to happen. That’s not being hysterical, but stating a simple fact,” she says.

“It’s not as easy as we might wish it was to determine when, how or if our children are safe. What is easy, is making a rule regarding your kid’s safety and sticking to it.”