This just in: parents worry too much. Correction. Parents worry about forces they cannot control.
From NPR, Christie Barnes, author of the Paranoid Parents Guide, notes that the likelihood of the five things parent worry about most is virtually nil. “It turns out most parents are worrying about all the wrong things", says Barnes, "these worries that we have are so rare…It’s like packing a snow shovel in case it snows in Las Vegas."
Based on surveys Barnes collected, the top five worries of parents are, in order:
- Kidnapping
- School snipers
- Terrorists
- Dangerous strangers
- Drugs
But according to the data, how do children really get hurt or killed?
- Car accidents
- Homicide (almost always committed by a person who knows the child, not a stranger)
- Abuse
- Suicide
- Drowning
From our perspective, it is fascinating to note that of the top three reasons children actually get hurt or killed, two of them would likely be attributed directly to the cause of the parents themselves. In other words, from a public policy perspective we should be much, much, much more worried about the parents themselves rather than the imaginations of parents (i.e. kidnappers, snipers).
Perhaps we should take a cue from the budding Slow Parenting movement we wrote about last year and just relax a little. This, of course, is easier said than done. We Americans are a pretty anxious bunch. Indeed, our over protectiveness could hurt in the long run. Says Barnes, "because we’re so afraid of the world, we’re teaching [our children] to be afraid of the world...I’d love it if every news story from the first list above came with a little warning at the bottom that said, 'Even though this is very tragic event, this is 1 in 10 million..”
So let's all take a collective deep breath and head outside to play. Just remember to wear a helmet. Seatbelts and protective gear can cut kids' chances of fatality by 90%.
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