英國父母擔心孩子安全 日益看緊孩子
Fearful parents are saying no to sleep-overs, banning children as old as 15 from using public transport on their own and watching over their kids like hawks at the local park, according to a new British study.
The survey of 6,099 people commissioned by LV= Streetwise, a charity that educates children about safety, revealed that nearly a quarter of children aged 15 or under were not allowed to sleep at a friend's house, 60 percent were forbidden to travel on public transport alone and 43 percent can't go to the park without a parent or guardian.
It said more than 60 percent of mums and dads think the world is more dangerous than when they were kids.
"It's difficult for parents to know when is the right time to step back and allow children to experience things on their own, and this report shows just how much things have changed over the last generation," said LV= group chief executive Mike Rogers in a statement.
In contrast, just four percent of today's adults say they were banned from sleeping-over when they were 15 or younger, only two percent were forbidden to use public transport, and the same number couldn't go out on their own in familiar surroundings, such as their local town or park.
"Stranger danger" is the number one worry for over half of all parents (54 percent), followed by bullying (47), mugging (47) and road danger (34).
On average, children today can look forward to walking to school on their own by the age of 11, use public transport on their own at 12, and babysit their brother or sister by the time they're 14.
In contrast, parents say they were allowed to walk to school unaccompanied at the age of nine, use public transport alone by the time they were 11, and babysit a sibling by the time of their 12th birthday.
Parents know they are being tougher on their children and over a third said they felt uneasy that their kids do not get the same opportunities as they did to experience freedom as a youngster.
LV= Streetwise released the survey to launch its safety roadshow, which helps to educate children about safety in the home and outdoors.
英國一項最新調查表明，英國父母因擔心孩子的安全問題，不讓孩子在外過夜，不讓年齡不滿15歲的子女單獨乘坐公共交通工具，而且在帶孩子到公園玩時會像老鷹一樣緊緊地盯着他們。
這項由LV= Streetwise兒童安全教育慈善組織委託開展的調查共有6099人蔘加。調查顯示，在15歲或15歲以下的兒童中，近四分之一的孩子被禁在朋友家過夜，60%的孩子不準單獨乘坐公共交通工具，43%的孩子在沒有父母或監護人的陪同下不能單獨去公園。
調查稱，超過60%的父母認爲，如今的社會環境不如他們小時候安全。
LV=Streetwise組織的首席執行官麥克•羅傑斯在一份聲明中說：“對於父母來說，何時選擇退後一步，讓孩子們單獨去經歷一些事情是很難的。該報告顯示出在過去一代中，有多少事情發生了變化。”
相比之下，只有4%的父母稱在他們15歲時或更小的時候不能在外過夜，只有2%的人在那個年齡被禁止單獨乘坐公共交通工具，同等數量的人稱他們當時不能單獨去當地的城鎮或公園等熟悉的環境。
一半以上的父母（54%）最擔心（孩子遇到）“來自陌生人的危險”，其次是受到欺負（47%），遭搶劫（47%）和道路安全問題（34%）。
一般來說，如今的孩子11歲時可以自己走路去上學，12歲時能單獨乘坐公共交通工具，14歲的時候能幫忙照看弟弟妹妹。
而父母一代的人在他們9歲時就能自己走路去上學，11歲時就可以單獨乘坐公共交通工具，12歲時就能 幫忙照看弟弟妹妹。
父母們知道現在他們對自己的孩子看得更嚴。超過三分之一的父母說，自己的孩子不能像他們小時候那樣享受自由，這也讓他們感到擔心。
LV= Streetwise機構開展這一調查是爲了宣傳他們即將開始的兒童安全教育巡展，該巡展旨在爲對兒童進行在家中和戶外的安全教育提供幫助。
Vocabulary:
sleep over: to stay the night at somebody else's home 在別人家裏過夜
roadshow: 巡展；路演
