View source for Why kids are safer today than 30yrs ago

Remember when kids could stay out late and enjoy summer evenings? When they could disappear for hours... climbing trees or camping out with friends? How times have changed. Now, the threat of paedophiles, road accidents and drug-pushing yobs means that most parents are wary of giving kids any freedom. But are things really that bad?<br>
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New figures show that youngsters are actually safer today than 30 years ago - the problem is that we just don't realise it. Take road accidents. Unlikely as it seems, there has actually been a 75 per cent reduction in the number of children killed on the roads in England and Wales, either in cars or as pedestrians. The number of under-15s killed in 2004 (the most recent figure from the Department Of Transport) was 166, in 1976 it was 668. The reasons are that cars and car seats now have better safety features and road design has improved. [...]<br>
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Another concern is the threat of a child murderer. NO one can forget the deaths of 10-year-old friends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in Soham. But statistically, your child isn't any more or less at risk than he or she would have been 30 years ago. The number of child murders has stayed virtually the same. On average, 79 have taken place each year in England and Wales since the 70s. Of these, just 11 are committed by a stranger. [...]<br>
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Studies repeatedly show that parents are more fearful for their children than in the 70s. In 1971, eight out of 10 eight-year-olds were allowed to walk to school on their own. Now, it is fewer than one in 10. And, sadly, it seems our fears will only get worse. Professor Frank Furedi, a sociologist at the University of Kent and author of Paranoid Parenting, says: "I've been examining this culture of fear for seven years and every year the situation gets worse. Things that weren't a problem three years ago are today."<br>
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<i>source: Article 'Why kids are safer today than 30yrs ago' by Victoria Kennedy; www.mirror.co.uk/news/tm_objectid=17415786&method=full&siteid=94762&headline=why-kids-are-safer-today-than-30yrs-ago--name_page.html; Mirror.co.uk; 20 July 2006</i>

[[Category:Victoria Kennedy]]
[[Category:Children's emancipation/Child rights]]
[[Category:Kinderemancipatie/Kinderrechten]]
[[Category:England]]
[[Category:Engeland]]
[[Category:Wales]]
[[Category:Frank Furedi]]
[[Category:University of Kent]]
[[Category:Fear]]
[[Category:Angst]]
[[Category:Holly Wells]]
[[Category:Jessica Chapman]]
[[Category:Murder]]
[[Category:Moord]]