DOVER, Del. — Nearly one in five parents say a stranger has approached their child at some point in time, concerning new research reveals. Specifically, the survey of 2,000 moms and dads finds 18 percent have had their child tell them a stranger tried to engage and converse with them.
Of those, 31 percent of parents alerted the police about the incident, while 45 percent reported the issue to other authorities such as their child’s local school. However, one in three (34%) believe schools and other organizations don’t have the training or resources to properly handle their concerns about safety.
The research, commissioned by Find My Kids, also finds 69 percent of parents feel their youngsters should learn about “stranger danger” before their fifth birthday. Another 12 percent think toddlers should know about these dangers by the age of three.
While 88 percent of the poll have had a conversation about the dangers of speaking to strangers, 32 percent of parents fear they’ll scare their child while discussing the topic. Nearly one in five parents (19%) avoid the subject because they feel they lack the knowledge to discuss stranger danger properly.
Were the 80s the best time to be a kid?
It also emerged that parents consider the 1980s to be the safest era to be a child, with 18 percent voting for that decade – compared to just five percent choosing the 2020s. Despite the 1980s ranking as the safest decade, many parents are turning modern technology for help, with 57 percent now providing their children with a phone for constant contact. With that in mind, 41 percent of the OnePoll survey say they would use a tracking app to know their child’s whereabouts at all times.
“Ensuring your child is safe is the top priority for any parent, and this research shows the urgency we want to educate our children on the dangers,” says Vadikh Giniatulin, CEO of Find My Kids, in a statement.
“While the 1980s is perceived to be the safest era to be a child, the technological advancements in 2023 means parents can monitor the whereabouts of their child safely, accurately, and without worrying the child.”
The CEO adds that four million parents have downloaded the Find My Kids app, which has encrypted GPS technology, allowing parents to track their child’s movements. The technology also enables parents to listen in to their child’s location if they believe they’re in distress.
“Listening to the child’s environment allows a parent to make the right assessment of the situation quickly and interfere on time should there be such a need,” Giniatulin explains.
72Point writer Gemma Francis contributed to this report.
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I’m sorry, this is utter nonsense. A study commissioned by a company that profits off of fear mongering about the safety of your children just happens to show you should fear for your children? Non-family abductions are a tiny percentage of missing children cases. Shame on Giniatulin for this nonsense.