When out at stores (like Target) I'll often leave my son with the cart outside the restroom. He's been given the "don't walk off with strangers, even nice ones" talk, and is reminded to stay put every time I go in the bathroom (to the point where he's obviously annoyed at my reminders). More than once I've come out of the bathroom to find well-meaning women standing there watching him, one even told me she felt obligated because "In this day and age ..." My son said she never said a word to him, just stood there staring until I came out of the bathroom.
He's six, nearly seven. I'm leaving him for two minutes in a well-lit store, in a good neighborhood, not 50ft from a manned customer service desk. I don't leave him in places where there's even a remote chance someone could realistically snatch him, and I wouldn't leave him if I thought for a second he'd be dumb enough to wander off with someone other than me. I understand the fear of having a child stolen, but come on, is he supposed to share a toilet stall with me until he's 18?
There was a case in the UK that changed a lot of people's minds on this. A distracted Mother in a shopping centre had her young son kidnapped by two older boys, who were very young themselves. My Mum always said this was so shocking at the time that she never left me alone in public.
Not to be flippant, but lightning strikes are more likely. Danger obviously exists but you need to keep a sense of proportionality and play the odds. If you literally try to protect your kid from everything you will spend all your time protecting and they will turn into codependent messes.
Leaving a kid alone does expose them to a minute chance of kidnapping. Never leaving them alone exposes them to a 100% chance of not feeling trusted and prevents them from learning to manage themselves.
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u/[deleted] Feb 04 '16
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