s/o Norwood sticker post from Private School forum

[Anonymous]

Fascinating that so many people are living their lives in this very fearful way. Read some statistics, get some facts. Because of our 24-news cycle, if an abduction (which probably turns out to be custodial parent) happens in SW Missouri, it seems very immediate and as a results, it seems like abductions are happening more often, because we are bombarded with this information. We are actually safer now than we've ever been. Violent crime is DOWN, according to FBI stats, and there has been a downward trend for several years, even in spite of the economic downturn.

I think it's pretty hilarious also about the backpacks. How many minutes per day is your child out of the supervision of someone who already knows their name? I'm going to guess probably, um, ZERO. I'm no helicopter parent but my kids are driven to school -- private, too far to walk -- and I don't think I'm atypical. I don't see any kids walking home from school alone in my neighborhood. The SAHMs walk down and pick up their kids and other kids get picked up or ride the bus.

[Anonymous]

I use a sharpie to black out my address on the registration card. It's never been a problem because the tag and title number are the important info. I was the victim of a violent crime once. I am not as dismissive as others. Quote all the stats, but at a personal level it's either 100% or zero.

[Anonymous]

I agree that it's easy to be paranoid about stranger danger and the chances of one of these crimes is extremely small. I won't let ithe fear of it rule my life or ruin my day.

However, it's a small step just to eliminate kids' identifying information from bumper stickers, backpacks, etc. It doesn't impact your life not to have them .... so why not just be conservative about personal information and not do this?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Fascinating that so many people are living their lives in this very fearful way. Read some statistics, get some facts. Because of our 24-news cycle, if an abduction (which probably turns out to be custodial parent) happens in SW Missouri, it seems very immediate and as a results, it seems like abductions are happening more often, because we are bombarded with this information. We are actually safer now than we've ever been. Violent crime is DOWN, according to FBI stats, and there has been a downward trend for several years, even in spite of the economic downturn.

I think it's pretty hilarious also about the backpacks. How many minutes per day is your child out of the supervision of someone who already knows their name? I'm going to guess probably, um, ZERO. I'm no helicopter parent but my kids are driven to school -- private, too far to walk -- and I don't think I'm atypical. I don't see any kids walking home from school alone in my neighborhood. The SAHMs walk down and pick up their kids and other kids get picked up or ride the bus.

Whatever! Even if I didn't find the stickers annoying, it's still such an easy thing not to do. I don't feel the need to advertise to the world how many kids I have and especially how many cats and dogs I have. What's to be gained from that? It's not like I'm going to avoid going out and doing normal things, but I don't feel the need to plaster my car with meaningless crap.

[Anonymous]

And do we really need to know that your kid is an honor roll student...............