Can Children be Left Alone in Closed Public Spaces

Host: Is it alright to drop children off at the mall or at the movies by themselves?
Nancy McBride: Parents and guardians really should understand that public venues like malls or movies are not safe places for kids to be alone because one of the things we do know about perpetrators is they look for access and opportunity, they look for places where kids are going to be and then they look for an opportunity to make that overture to the child and try to get the child to do something. So, a child who is alone in a public place is potentially more vulnerable to that than a child who is with other kids certainly with adults who are supervising them. So, do not think just because it is a movie or it is a mall and it is enclosed that it is a safe place because those are really not good places for kids to be alone.



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