Study: Parents Don’t Believe They’ll Ever Leave Child in Car
A new study has found that an overwhelming majority of parents are still unaware or refuse to believe that they are susceptible to forgetting a child in the car.
Study experts say this fatal belief is what prevents people from taking simple precautions that can save their child’s life.
The Kars4Kids.org study revealed that 16 percent of parents surveyed were concerned that it can happen to them.
The individual online study panel was made up of 2500 respondents, identified as parents aged 18 and older, and was conducted in June 2018.
Some of the comments parents made about the possibility of ever leaving their child in a car included;
“This is silly, who would forget a child. It’s a FIRST priority;”
“I am not a bad mother. If you put the child in the car then you don’t leave the car without the child! No excuse ever! That’s it;”
And, “I am an intelligent person who would NOT forget!”
Nearly 80 percent of those surveyed also admitted to thinking negatively of a parent who forgets a child in a car. Although, about a third of parents reportedly take precautions, but when surveyors drilled deeper, they found only 15 percent were taking any real precautions.
Reported precautions included, “I remember that I had my child in the car,” and “I be(sic) a good parent and not stupid.”
Eleven percent of those surveyed said they believed it was okay to leave a child in a car for a few minutes.
The survey was part of an awareness campaign “It Can Happen” aimed at educating parents that it can happen to anyone.
The campaign claims that last year, 43 children died of heatstroke after being left in a car.
