by Melissa Harlow

Created on: October 24, 2009   Last Updated: October 26, 2009

This is a topic that drives kids crazy. Actually, it drives the entire family crazy. With the recent abduction in Florida of a seven year old girl, child safety is back into the news. Even something as little as walking to school has become a danger zone. When I grew up, my mom was more concerned that I did not get injured on the way home. Now, injury is just one of a good parent's worries. A sexual predator is so callous to take a little girl, do only God knows what, and throw her body into a landfill like Yesterday's trash. Of course, this is all over every news channel causing parents to shake their heads and pray. Parents ride a fine line between teaching their kids about and scaring them. Unfortunately, it is becoming more necessary.

Of course, parents have a reason to fear for their kids' safety. Danger comes from every angle and source imaginable. Again, in the recent news, kids were abusing each other over a bike. Former friends, fighting over who owned a bike, lit someone else on fire. With luck, he survived burns covering over two-thirds of his body. Has our society become so jaded that this has become acceptable? Crime and violence are running rampant, so parents should be concerned. Carrying a gun is just as normal as having a cell phone to some Chicago teens. Sexual offenders are released from jail just to find their next target. The problem is how do we as parents protect our kids in this harsh reality.

I do not let my nine year old walk to school. It is a battle that comes every new school year. " You just don't trust me, Mom!" coming from my feisty third-grader. That is not the truth. I have no trouble trusting him. It is everyone else I worry about. When does a parent cross the line and become "overprotective"? I am not sure you can be too protective in today's world. The solution may lie in teaching our kids better. As parents, we can be more pro-active to talk to our kids about their own safety. Not to frighten them, to teach them. If they know more, they can cope better. If they are taught how to react well to a situation, it may make the difference in an emergency. Our children do not have to become hostages to a brutal society.

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