Most parents are dumb.

Which is, of course, the corollary to 'most people are dumb.' The kinder interpretation is that they, like most of the rest of us, are victims of a fear-mongering, manipulative, 'if it bleeds it leads,' sensationalistic media machine.

The one time I broached this subject with a friend who was also a parent, the predictable response received was "But what if it happened to your child?" Which, you know, misses the point completely. [But I let it go.]

Schneier on Security: Parental Fears vs. Realities:

"...the top five worries of parents are, in order:

Kidnapping
School snipers
Terrorists
Dangerous strangers
Drugs

But how do children really get hurt or killed?

Car accidents
Homicide (usually committed by a person who knows the child, not a stranger)
Abuse
Suicide
Drowning

Why such a big discrepancy between worries and reality? Barnes says parents fixate on rare events because they internalize horrific stories they hear on the news or from a friend without stopping to think about the odds the same thing could happen to their children."