Erroneous Risk Assessment and Mitigation #4:Myth or urban legend

At one of my churches, word was spread about a child being snatched from a Church Nursery. All of a sudden I had parents demanding all kinds of changes for our nursery and families stopped bringing their children. I called the State Highway Patrol and asked about the story. No story, it never happened. Indeed only 50 “abductions” occurred that year, which is less than one per county, and most of the incidents occurred in one of two counties, neither of them the church's. Almost all of the incidents were from a non-custodian parent or grandparent grabbing their own child. So I set a new nursery policy tightening up sign-in/sign-out procedures. I then sent a letter to the families, explaining the facts and what the changes were. Problem solved.

• Try to trace the source of a concern. Google it, call an authority, check Snopes.com
• Is the situation rational?
• Would it have made the newspapers if it actually happened?
• Is the data specific? “I have heard” or “Over in [town name] such and such happened” isn't enough
• Again, apply the rules of risk assessment: is the problem likely enough that you should take it into consideration