Nowadays, child protection is seen as a matter of the utmost importance - as it should be. However, back in the 1970s and 1980s, things were a little more relaxed. This is something that was massively highlighted in Ryan Reynolds' latest Instagram post.
The Green Lantern star is known for amusing his 28.5 million followers with hilarious wisecracks and on-point witticisms. However, his upload yesterday came with a serious undertone.
The 42-year-old actor posted a snap of an old newspaper article that showed an adorable picture of him when he was younger, sitting in his swimming trunks by a swimming pool and grinning at the camera.
However, a seemingly cute article took a dark turn when the newspaper in question wrote a caption telling readers exactly where the little boy lived.
"This is Ryan Reynolds, 3, and he's enjoying the water at Kits Community Centre wading pool. Ryan lives at 2382 Oliver Cr. This playground and others have supervised programs for tots and kids in summer, [sic]" it read.
The horror that a publication would release a child's address to the public was not lost on Ryan, with him writing: "This is from my hometown newspaper, back in the day. I think it’s smart they discontinued the 'wanna know where this child lives?' section. #HolySh*t".
His post was popular on social media, with over 1.5 million users 'liking' it. However, predictably, not everyone found the incident amusing, with many taking to the comment section to claim the unnamed newspaper was leading "paedophiles to the child of their choice".
"It’s like the classified section for pedos [sic]," wrote one Instagrammer, while another added: "Jezus! They're basically giving pedos address directions to their choice ? [sic]".
Another highlighted the naive attitudes that prevailed in the late 1970s, when the picture was taken, putting: "Oh dear how innocent we all were never could imagine anyone would use pics or info to hurt a child [sic]".
The upload even caught the attention of Avengers star Josh Brolin, who was caught by Instagram account Comments By Celebs, joking: "I'm so coming over".
Ryan has recently been taking a step away from his usual online banter to discuss toxic masculinity. Speaking as the new face of Armani Code fragrances, the Deadpool star told Elle that there was a "tremendous emphasis placed on masculinity and what it means to be a man" when he was growing up - something that he wanted to change when he got older.
"What does 'the new masculinity' mean to me?" he said. "I mean, I think as we move away from or make toxic masculinity a memory, I think that certainly anything that encompasses that is new and better. I also like the idea of everything feeling more integrated than it used to. It's a pretty exciting paradigm shift that I think is welcomed by most people. I like that. "
He continued: "When I grew up, I grew up the youngest of four boys and I grew up in a household where my dad was a boxer and a cop and there was a tremendous emphasis placed on masculinity and what it means to be a man. As I've moved through life I've seen that none of that is really true and integrating both a feminine side and a masculine side is something that's been important to me for a long time. I don't shy away from any part of me. It's something that I just enjoy."
Hear, hear, Ryan! Well done for always pointing out the things that need to be paid attention to.
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