Which is more sad? That the Roman Catholic Diocese of Portland has issued guidelines to employees and volunteers who work with children to guard against sexual impropriety, or that we live in a world when impropriety is so commonplace that the church is among the last to issue these instructions?

Both are equally sad.

Last week, the Diocese defined what kind of touching between adults and children is permissible and what is inappropriate. The policies will, according to Bishop Joseph Gerry, “make everyone aware of what is expected of them.”

For those who are able to instantly identify when an adult has crossed the line with a child, these rules may seem unnecessary.

They’re not.

While the recent scandal in the Catholic Church has focused scrutiny on that institution, abuse extends well beyond the clergy.

That is saddest of all.

School teachers, coaches, police officers and crossing guards are now taught about boundaries between themselves and children. They are held to written policies and undergo regular training. There are consequences for violating these policies.

This kind of formal direction is relatively new and long overdue.

There were no manuals 50 years ago banning too-long hugs and tickling, and the topic of childhood sexual abuse was not familiar to society-at-large. The crime was intensely secretive and victims, hesitant to speak up, suffered.

That sense of shame is slowly lifting as society has become more willing to hold sexual predators accountable for their crimes.

In making this progress, though, we are losing the freedom for teachers, coaches and others to show any affection at all. Sometimes children need a hug. Sometimes a modest pat on the head isn’t enough, especially for children who are not apt to get hugs at home.

Society’s stubborn refusal to acknowledge and assist victims of sexual abuse over the years has victimized children who may never fall prey to a sexual predator by halting what could and should be spontaneous displays of appropriate affection from adults.

Defining boundaries between children and adults offers protection from abuse, which we need. But healthy relationships suffer the consequences.

Pick, choose

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could disregard information we don’t like in favor of information that we do?

That’s what it must be like to be President Bush.

The president gives little credence to global warming. So, when the Environmental Protection Agency drafted a report on the state of the environment, and the Bush administration found it to be contrary to its views, it asked the EPA to delete an entire chapter on rising global temperatures. Gone.

This scientific government report was commissioned to inspect our environment and study what we may expect in the future.

The president, who has already downgraded many anti-pollution regulations in response to industry pressure, is now just erasing information that doesn’t suit the administration’s viewpoint.

That’s not softening his stance on the environment. That’s turning his back on it.

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