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Child safety: the real risks
Child abduction is the ultimate fear of any parent. With frenzied coverage of each case from Jamie Bulger to Holly and Jessica, the world feels like a terrifying place for today's children. But is it actually more dangerous for kids today or are we becoming over anxious?
Children in the UK are safer than almost anywhere else in the world. So why are parents allowing deep seated fears about the safety of their children to dominate their lives? When child safety expert police Inspector Tim Bonnett chatted to parents on ivillage's Child Safety Board, many of them expressed the view that it was not safe for their children to be out of their sight. 'With everything that happens in today's world, children going missing etc, I hate my children going anywhere without me,' said a mother of two, aged ten and seven. Another mum admitted to being terrified whenever her daughter played outside with friends even though she is rarely out of her sight.
Of course some level of worry is a natural and essential part of parental responsibility, but are our fears directed at the real risks to children today? Are our children really likely to be snatched by an evil stranger the moment we look away? Newspaper rhetoric and our own nostalgia hark back to the golden age of our own childhoods when we could roam free in a less evil world. The reality is that children are no more likely to be abducted and killed than 30 years ago. Less than ten children are 'snatched' by strangers each year.
The real risks
The overwhelming majority of child abuse cases come from within the home and are perpetrated by a parent of guardian. As Inspector Bonnett said, if you do hear of an abduction or child abuse case in your area, check it out with the police and ninety percent of the time it will be a family member who is responsible. The problem for the police is that abuse in the home is far more difficult to track down and prove - the tragedy for most abused children is that no one ever knows. From the point of view of an anxious parent though, it's important to realise that most child abuse cases are not due to paedophilic desires but are caused by more immediate power struggles in a family, these people are not really interested in anyone else's children, just their own.
A far greater danger to children outside the home is our aggressive driving culture of rat runs and road rage. Britain has one of Europe's worst records for child pedestrian accidents with more than 100 children killed on the streets every year. Despite this shocking statistic, child deaths on the road barely get a mention in the national press and there was just one question on road safety addressed to Chief Inspector Bonnet in the iVillage safety chat. Our concern as parents might be more appropriately directed at campaigning for safer driving laws, educating our children about road safety and driving far more carefully and thoughtfully ourselves.
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