Fifty percent of parents polled said they worried “a lot” about someone kidnapping their child, with drugs and alcohol (55 percent) and negative messages in the media (39 percent) also ranking high on the list of worries.25 Have the threats to our children increased, compared to a generation or two ago? Have “negative social influences” grown, or is it the scope and influence of the media—in our homes and our lives—that has expanded dramatically? The lead story of any local news program—a missing child, a convicted child molester out of prison—will confirm that good news doesn’t sell.
Our media has become increasingly fear based. I think this is a huge problem, and the solution can't be to ignore it. But limiting it, sure.
