'I See You Have a Family Decal on Your Car. Now I Will Kidnap Your Kids!'

I think that the message was not so much that the stick figure are the big problem. I think that's silly. But when you put your young children's names on the back of the car as in the soccerball, basketball, volleyball decals it makes it that much easier to appear to know those kids. A person with bad intentions can approach them BY NAME. It's the same reason parents are advised not to put their kids names visable on the outside of backpacks and such.

I completely agree! You couldn't have said it any better...God bless us all

You started off strong, but then I got disappointed towards the end there.

Alexis, I know it may seem as if parents are parenoid but look at the times we live in... we live in a time and society full of sick, demented people out there. There are sick perverted people out there who do terrible things to children and don't think twice about it. These sickos are even taking these children right out of there own homes, out of there own bedrooms. Home is where you are suppose to feel and be safe, and now even that si at risk sometimes. So you can't find fault with parents that feel the need to be extra cautious with regards to their childrens safety. Nobody wants to live like that, always looking over your shoulder, but unfortunately, thats teh kind of world we are living in, and it's very sad.

WHICH children are being taken from their own bedrooms, Debbie? I can think of only two cases like that - Elizabeth Smart, and Polly Klaas. And neither of those is exactly "recent".

yeah, I think that the whole point of "freerange kids" movement is to point out that we don't, in fact, live in "dangerous times" -- the statistics are just about the same (or better!) than 40 years ago -- but that the media has made us *feel* less safe, and we need to fight against the stranglehold that that has on us as parents (or people, for that matter).

Thank you. Let there be balance. I live in a major city where serious offenders are being released early because the city cannot afford to keep them locked up. I agree with you!

They're probably thinking that fewer than 200 children a year are kidnapped by strangers and molested (most of them pre-teens and teens, by the way, not prepubescent... not that it makes it better, I'm just sayin') and that over 90% of all molesters target the kids they know, typically THEIR OWN children.

If you know enough to put (or not put) decals on your window telling how many kids you have, you probably already know your kids' names.

Taking your children outside advertises that you have children.

Or, if you don't like being a negative person, living in fear, you could realize its much, much, much more comon for a child to be in a serious car accident. A rescuer knowing how many people could be in the car could help them ensure they get everyong, and know your children's names could help them calm down if they are panicked from the accident.

Of course, thats still a reason rooted in fear, but at least its a much more likely fear than child molesters..

So you teach your child not to go with anyone they don't know, even if the person knows names. And setup a family codeword and teach the child that if the person says this word, you really sent them, so go with them; if not, don't.

Someone could learn your childrens' names simply by standing nearby and listening for you, a sibling, a friend, etc. to call out to the child. And as has been said, a child is much more likely to be molested by a family member, who already knows their name, than a stranger.

Half the first graders, huh? Would those be vaccinated kids?

We live in a time of media over-saturation. 24-hour news networks playing stuff like Nancy Grace makes it seem as though there are far more perverts out there than there are. But if you look at the actual numbers, there's little reason for concern. Don't live life as a paranoid fool.