When I turned 16, the most important thing in my life was getting my driver’s license. I couldn’t wait to borrow my father’s car to go to the mall, visit my friends or just go explore all the nooks and crannies of my hometown.

In my eagerness to venture out into the world, a stern warning was issued to me by my father. “Stay out of you-know-where,” he said. The place he was referring to is an area back home with a crime rate that makes even the muggers think twice about going out at night. It’s the kind of place where an 18-year-old boy earned a one-way ticket to death row for killing a policeman with his own gun.

My father had always been there to protect me from the evils of the world. He would defend me when a grouchy neighbor screamed at me to get off her lawn. Other times he would walk out into the backyard with a newspaper just as the local bully was about to start using my friends and me as punching bags. But as I left the relative safety of my own neighborhood, all he could do was tell me what to do to stay out of trouble. Not even my fearless dad could protect me from a knife-wielding maniac who liked my watch.

If some of my memories seem recently familiar, they should. The U.S. government announced Wednesday it could do little or nothing to protect Americans traveling to Lebanon. It was stated no American is considered safe from kidnapping or other acts of terrorism in that country.

Just like a father, the U.S. government can protect the rights of its citizens in the relative safety of our North American neighborhood. But, if we travel to the bad section of town—Lebanon—our dad the government has admitted that he really can’t assure our safety.

Like most teen-agers, I paid little attention to my parents. To my father’s anguish, I ventured into the area he warned me to stay away from. Fortunately, I was not the victim of any crime (I was there during the day). But when my car stalled at an intersection, I could just feel myself being watched by members of the local street gang.

In anger, but mostly out of concern, my father forbade me from ever going into that area again and relieved me of my car keys for a brief time. In much the same way, our government has had to take similiar restrictive measures to stop its “stupid kids” from going somewhere and getting harmed. Like a protective parent, the government basically has had to ground us for our own safety.

The whole notion of a travel ban should be unnecessary. Why does the government have to advocate stiff fines and even jail sentences to stop people from traveling to a war zone where their safety is almost non-existent?

It seems that Americans, like naive teen-agers, will never learn. What some fail to realize is that there are people in the world, the Lebanese in particular, that just simply hate Americans. Whatever reasons they have for this hatred, it remains a sad fact that in some areas of the world, at least for the time being, Americans are unwelcomed and just do not belong.

One thing that is disturbing, though, is that there are Americans who remain in Lebanon or make trips there as if they were going to visit friends across town. Is it worth risking your life traveling to a place where the odds of being harassed, kidnapped or even killed are increased just by the fact that you are an American?

Maybe in years past it was safe for Americans to go just about anywhere. But in Lebanon, where President Amin Gemayel can’t even go outside for fear of being shot by some warring faction, no one can consider himself safe.

As Americans, we supposedly live in the most highly-educated and well-informed society in the world. That is why it is so inconceivable that some of us would travel knowingly to such a dangerous place as Lebanon clearly aware of the risks involved. It’s too bad the government has had to ground us. You would think we’d know better.