We’ve seen it before – all the warnings and scary articles about revealing too much info on your car. Stick family stickers and bumper stickers announcing info about your family. Is it really feeding valuable information to predators and criminals? Are these dangerous stickers?
“Whether it’s a predator on the highway or even a parking lot, are we making it too easy for them to find out information about our families? Read a sticker, and a simple internet search later, we know so much, maybe too much, about a child and her family.” – Jillian Corder
“When you’re putting that information out there you don’t know who’s seeing it” – Louisiana State Police Trooper Albert Paxton
“What parents need to be concerned about or certainly aware of, is not revealing too much about themselves or their children” – Nancy McBride, National Center for Missing and Exploited Children
“The group Kid Safe Foundation says those bumper stickers are announcing to the world details that you don’t want potential predators or criminals to know.”
Be afraid. Be very afraid! Give me a break. It’s way more hazardous and risky just to be a passenger in a car. Let’s cool it with the stick figure stickers fear mongering and focus on real kid safety issues.
Do people really think these scary predators are out doing reconnaissance work by studying bumper stickers on cars? Hey, if you’re driving a mini van with a child seat or kids in the back it’s already pretty obvious you have kids. If they really want to, they can just follow you to the school or home – that’s a lot easier then deciphering stick family stickers and then putting some evil plan together.
I’m all for keeping kids safe, but let’s be realistic. People with expensive luxury cars can be targeted for robberies. Mini-Vans with car seats can be targeted for child abduction. Where do you draw the line? Keeping kids locked safely in the house at all times, or hiring body guards? Spreading sensationalized fear-based stories about dangerous stickers or being stressed and paranoid doesn’t help anyone, including the kids.
Yes, attention needs to be paid to kids online activity, when they are walking neighborhoods alone and many other issues. But, let’s leave car stickers out of it. Be proud of your student and their team and their school. If you enjoy it, go ahead and showcase your stick family stickers on the back window. Be proud. Have fun. “Fight The Fear” and “Stand Up For Stickers”!
Jeff Nicholson is the founder and Creative Director at 
One Response
I agree. It’s absolutely appalling that zero kids have been abducted because of bumper stickers but this story keeps making the rounds. Meanwhile parents don’t know who their kids talk to in minecraft or if the neighbor’s adult son is a pedo.