Do you feel posting on next-door put your kids at risk?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think you are fixating way too much on predators. Statistically, the risk predators attempt anything based on where you live and the fact you have children is minuscule. Minuscule as in negligible. However, crossing the road and being driven in a car are very dangerous activities. Falling down the stairs is also very dangerous, as in, statistically, a person in their lifetime has a high risk of falling and injuring themselves via a staircase. Predators? Not so much.

It's interesting how a lot of people have a very distorted sense of various risks.

Not OP but I disagree. It's not that I think a predator would go to Nextdoor and then target my family or my child by finding us there. It's more that there are people in the world generally who are looking to exploit or hurt other people, and I don't see the point in giving them any assistance. It just seems practical not to.

We are both right, PP. There's an acceptable continuum, and the extremes are crazy. I rarely post on Nextdoor, and have never talked about my kids. I'm not active on social media in general. But OP comes across as the textbook parent who has a specific fear of predators, and not a very good grasp of which risks she should be focusing on. I've seen it so many times on DCUM over the 10+ years I've been here. Generally it's the parents of very young kids who behave like this - because parents of older kids get some perspective and realize they've got more pressing things to worry about!

I agree with both of you, but there is a lot of low level exploitation that can only occur with extra info. I think that's what OP means. When my mom passed away and her obituary posted, her Facebook account was hacked within a day or two and my dad immediately targeted by messages from younger "women" wanting to be added as a friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a part of it, but it makes me so uncomfortable that you have to identify your exact address. I have two kids and I feel like it is just a magnet for predators but I would love to have more connection to my neighborhood and know what people are posting as far as information when we lose power, people looking for lost dogs, etc .
I guess I’m trying to weigh the pros versus cons. People who are on it, can you let me know what your experiences have been?

Do you think people driving past your house can tell from the outside that you have kids there? Bumper sticker of their school on the car in the driveway? Decorations in the windows? Bikes in the driveway, etc.? Your neighborhood already knows you have kids in that house.

Have you considered checking the sex offender registry to see if there are any registered sex offenders living nearby? Obviously they're not all caught and or prosecuted, but that's a jumping off point.

No, I’m not an idiot. People who do this are literally the dumbest people in the world. My brother is in law-enforcement and advises people all the time not to advertise on their cars the number of children they have or schools they attend or leagues they play for.
Of course I’ve checked the sex offender registry. I check it every three months.
-OP

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you don't have to post anything, let alone anything about your kids.

However, I deleted it because it was a waste of time and fairly negative - lots of complaining, and negative sentiments from people who probably wouldn't voice those in person. And really, how often do you find or lose a dog?

Thank you this is helpful. I’m thinking not to even start with it. However, there is a dog in our neighborhood that is routinely let out at night, and it wanders our streets. It is an older dog, and many of the neighbors have had to retrieve it and return it to the owners…we also have a fox issue in the neighborhood that would be helpful to post about. The suggestion for a group chat is a great idea.
-Op

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not a part of it, but it makes me so uncomfortable that you have to identify your exact address. I have two kids and I feel like it is just a magnet for predators but I would love to have more connection to my neighborhood and know what people are posting as far as information when we lose power, people looking for lost dogs, etc .
I guess I’m trying to weigh the pros versus cons. People who are on it, can you let me know what your experiences have been?

Predators are usually family members or someone the parents know well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, you don't have to post anything, let alone anything about your kids.

However, I deleted it because it was a waste of time and fairly negative - lots of complaining, and negative sentiments from people who probably wouldn't voice those in person. And really, how often do you find or lose a dog?

Thank you this is helpful. I’m thinking not to even start with it. However, there is a dog in our neighborhood that is routinely let out at night, and it wanders our streets. It is an older dog, and many of the neighbors have had to retrieve it and return it to the owners…we also have a fox issue in the neighborhood that would be helpful to post about. The suggestion for a group chat is a great idea.
-Op

You just need the owner's phone number: if you see the dog, return it. The whole neighborhood doesn't need an update.

"Fox issue" is a great example of why I got off Next Door. I like seeing foxes; sounds like maybe you don't. Fine. I guarantee you that someone in your neighborhood feeds them, somebody else is threatening to shoot or poison them, one person is sure they're all rabid, and one person thinks it was a coyote not a fox. All these people are arguing in a long thread on Next Door. No minds are being changed in that thread, it's just sniping.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:none of my peers post on next door

Who uuur peers

My 70 year old dad posts on Nextdoor. I’m 42 with 3 kids ages 14, 12, and 9. My mom friends with kids are not on Nextdoor.