Kids in America Are Safer Than They’ve Ever Been

As a kid I remember walking to school alone, playing outside until dark and it was so much different that now, times were different! I'm the mother of two teens and it's very hard to "loosen the strings", so to speak.

When they were babies, I would get up in the night to check on them. I'd make sure they were breathing, and that no one had kidnapped them. I'm sure I'm no different than most mothers.

I still worry. I think a mother will always worry about their "babies" no matter what.

So when I was reading this article about how things are safer than ever in America, it did make me feel a little better. I'm still going to be a worry wart but thought I'd share with everyone to give people some peace of mind.

Here are the stats to back it up the fact that America has never been safer:

• Kidnappings are down 55% since 1992, even though the population has increased about 30% since then and 96% of kids who go missing are runaways. Only a tenth of a percent are actually kidnapped by a stranger...that's really low!
• Kids are 43% less likely to die in a car crash than they were ten years ago, and they're also less likely to get hit by a car. Over 800 kids died from being hit by a car in 1993, however less than 250 did in 2013.
• Binge drinking among high school seniors has continued to become less and less common since 1995, and so has smoking. Which is a huge relief to me as a mom of two teens!
• Kids are 59% less likely to be a victim of violent crime than they were back in 1994. And overall, child mortality rates have dropped almost 50% since 1990!

I guess when you stop and think, most people are good people. There are some bad ones that we need to protect our children from. The problem is you never know until it's too late if someone is a bad person.

My job is to protect my children and I will continue to do that to the best of my ability. But reading this today did make me feel a little better and I hope it makes you feel a little more at ease too!

Source: Washington Post / Business Insider