Poll of the Day - White Van Worries

As a parent of two children, ages 10 and 7, I'm obviously disturbed by the report of a child nearly being abducted in Cedar Rapids by people lurking in a white van. Another report places a van, maybe the same van, near Linn-Mar High School, not too far from my Marion neighborhood.

And that's a neighborhood where kids, including mine, tend to run free, until after the summer sun finally sinks. Supervision low.

But Wednesday afternoon, I told my kids to have their friends come over and play inside. Normally, I'm all, "Get outside. It's a great day, and you're too loud. Bye Bye." But, for some reason, I didn't mind having them within earshot. Yeah, you know the reason.

It's silly. They're perfectly safe outside playing. They're not that far away. I know all that. Please don't tell Lenore Skenazy.

But I'm wondering, are other parents, grandparents, caregivers, etc., around these parts feeling the same, or more so? I thought it might be a good question for the poll of the day, although I struggled with the wording. Please use the "other" choice if you'd like to more precisely describe your answer. And if you'd rather skip the poll and comment below, swell.

So here's the poll, and hey, let's be careful out there.

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