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I understand the above is for children under 5, they didn't have a statistic for 8 year old and thereabouts age group - but it's quite plain to see that kids are in way more danger from people you know than strangers lurking in a park.
Oh so by your logic ..............
Someone you know could not go to the park and swipe the kid because they know you are dropping them off............
You just don't drop a child that age off anywhere to meet and play with other kids unless it is supervised by adults and they know you are dropping your kid off
Someone you know could not go to the park and swipe the kid because they know you are dropping them off............
You just don't drop a child that age off anywhere to meet and play with other kids unless it is supervised by adults and they know you are dropping your kid off
My parents did and I survived. So did the parents of every single kid I knew. This obsession with protecting children at all costs is very new...even though crime against children is down.
I generally don't worry about child predators lurking in every corner. However, I do have to say they are more likely to be in places like a park. My husband coached soccer, and the soccer league warned coaches to beware of adult men, who do not appear to have children with them and are hanging around the parks.
It turns out that the local police had been doing sweeps looking for sexual offenders at parks where kids were playing sports. The soccer league was shocked that over and over again the police were finding multiple sexual offenders hanging out at these parks, watching the kids. Sexual offenders often "groom" kids, and I guess they were looking for kids who they may be able to befriend. It was kind of creepy information to hear at a coach training meeting.
I also encountered this issue when I was on a park planning committee. City officials actually often place bathrooms far away from playground equipment because of this issue. It was openly discussed at the meeting how they don't want to give sexual predators an easy place to lure children into where they could be molested. It would be more noticeable if a strange man, for example, was walking with a child across a field to get to a bathroom.
Overall, I generally watch the sex offenders list in my area, and it is unbelievable how many people are on that list. I try to keep track of where they live, where they work and what they look like. I was really creeped out when once I emailed one of them before I knew he was on the list for sexually abusing a child. After being released from prison he had started his own business. I emailed him about buying something. Luckily I never went through with the sale because I would have brought my kids along if I had done that!
The point is, that they are actually likely safer out there by themselves, statistically speaking. There are a ton more predators close to your children than there are in a neighborhood park or walking down the street.
Accosting strange children is risky, which is why most child crime is perpetrated by people in positions of trust, who are well known to the child and can manipulate them and keep them quiet.
Strangers grabbing them off the street is a far less likely scenario than them being continually harmed by an adult they know.
ACTUALLY STATISTICALLY speaking they are not safer out there by themselves As Per
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Do not go out alone. Always take a friend with when going places or playing outside.
My parents did and I survived. So did the parents of every single kid I knew. This obsession with protecting children at all costs is very new...even though crime against children is down.
Have you seen the changeling???
seriously though, those trends are related to each other. Kids were all largely unsupervised---> crime against them got scary ----> parents tighten up on safety----> crime goes down----> parents think there's nothing to worry about----
(please don't think that this post cancels my earlier post about trusting the parent's judgement)
ACTUALLY STATISTICALLY speaking they are not safer out there by themselves As Per
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children Do not go out alone. Always take a friend with when going places or playing outside.
You misunderstand. When I say "by themselves", I mean without their parents present, not necessarily without other children or a friend.
However, what you've posted regarding the advice from the NCMEC does not negate the FACT that kids are more at risk from people you know than people you don't.
The point is letting them play without direct parental supervision, not that they should be dumped in the middle of nowhere "by themselves".
seriously though, those trends are related to each other. Kids were all largely unsupervised---> crime against them got scary ----> parents tighten up on safety----> crime goes down----> parents think there's nothing to worry about----
(please don't think that this post cancels my earlier post about trusting the parent's judgement)
But there was never a spike in crime against children between my generation and now. This theory would require a rise in crime that would cause parents to go from unsupervised to- scary.
I can't remember at what age our son started going to the park alone - and when I say alone, it was with other friends from the neighborhood without parents around. Our park is behind the houses across the street from me.
I'm guessing though he was around 8 or slightly older. These kids all knew where everyone lived, so depending where they were at, they go to each others houses to use the bathroom for example (we told them not to use the one there). All of the parents knew each other, the kids never had issues, got into trouble, didn't get hurt. And became quite the group playing kick the can, etc.
I don't believe there is "one answer fits all" in the situation. As others have mentioned, it depends on the area, the park, the maturity of the kids, etc.
But there was never a spike in crime against children between my generation and now. This theory would require a rise in crime that would cause parents to go from unsupervised to- scary.
I see what you mean. I guess I don't know how old you are or what the exact changes in crime have been but it does seem like there has at least been more media publicized abductions in my lifetime. Do you have linkage for your stats?
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