London - anxious about daughter visiting

[Shockedmama]

My teen wants to go to London with her dads family, who take such good care of her. But I’m worried about a terror attack an
I being un reasonable I don’t want her to not live her life but iv got such awful anxiety about it.

The times I've been it just seems a dirty place full of pushy arrogant people and dirty buildings, shedloads of traffic and not many smiles. Now Scotland, that's something else

Wow. Must head to Scotland then, where there's no arrogant people, traffic or dirt

@Poetrypatty

I wouldn't want my DC in London, for different reasons

Just out of interest, what reasons?

I'm amazed about some posters ideas of what London is like.

The Manchester bombing scared the hell out of me, still does. Seriously doubt I will set foot in Manchester again

Such is life. She will have many near misses, whatever life she leads, wherever she leads it.

@Poetrypatty

The times I've been it just seems a dirty place full of pushy arrogant people and dirty buildings, shedloads of traffic and not many smiles. Now Scotland, that's something else

Wow. Must head to Scotland then, where there's no arrogant people, traffic or dirt

Well no, but at least with Scotland the effort of going is worth making, Birmingham is much the same as london

You're sheltered, @mummykel16, and you don't like cities, we get it, but that's not a choice you or anyone gets to make for your DC.

@FennecShandDoesEverything

You're sheltered, *@mummykel16*, and you don't like cities, we get it, but that's not a choice you or anyone gets to make for your DC.

I wouldn't even try, but I would prefer them not to.

Hi OP

We're just moving this thread over to the mental health topic for you.
We are really sorry that you're struggling with your anxiety - we think that this would be better for support and advice from other users.

Also, the title is a bit concerning and we're going to nip in and edit it so as not to cause alarm.

Sending lots of love and best wishes
MNHQ

@FennecShandDoesEverything

You're sheltered, *@mummykel16*, and you don't like cities, we get it, but that's not a choice you or anyone gets to make for your DC.

Not sheltered at all, nor blinkered

You can't really dictate if your children visit cities or not mummykel16
They'll grow into adults and can go where they want.

@Poetrypatty

You can't really dictate if your children visit cities or not mummykel16 They'll grow into adults and can go where they want.

I just said i wouldn't even try

I live in London and DD15 is starting to take journeys out of borough to unfamiliar areas with her friends. Today they (5 girls) went out all day to Zone 1 and yes I was terrified and yes I said if she gets lost or separated get in a black cab and come home...but after coming back on the train and then going to her mate's house, and then getting picked up by her dad...I realised I was worrying over nothing.

If you don't live in London, it seems scarier...

But London is full of people just getting on with their life..

It's like some of the inner city places I've lived in. You just get on with living, adapting to the environment. People from the suburbs worry about stuff happening in the "inner city" but living here most of the stuff happens in another bit of the inner city because it's a lot bigger than just my wedge of it. My local bit is only a small proportion of the whole so statistically most stuff will be happening elsewhere.

The only thing I would warn your daughter to watch out for are the weird shadows on Westminster Bridge 😉

hee hee - Willy Bridge as my son calls it :)

London is much, much cleaner than Paris or Barcelona and way less scary than New York. Fact!

London is still a bit quieter than normal at the moment, or at least the tubes are. Your chance of being in a terrorist attack is pretty close to zero. Plus you can be reassured by all the cctv monitoring they have.

London is such a great city for teenagers. Kids are far more likely to be in danger from crossing busy roads looking at their phones. I hope your cbt helps with your feelings of anxiety.

@NoneOfYour32Potatoes

Terrorism threat levels

The threat level indicates the likelihood of a terrorist attack in the UK.

National threat level
The threat to the UK (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) from terrorism is substantial.

Northern Ireland-related threat level
The threat to Northern Ireland from Northern Ireland-related terrorism is severe.

Threat levels
There are 5 levels of threat:

low - an attack is highly unlikely
moderate - an attack is possible but not likely
substantial - an attack is likely
severe - an attack is highly likely
critical - an attack is highly likely in the near future

This is for the UK as a whole though? Not for London specifically!

@AndAllOurYesterdays

I remember years ago after 7/7 I organised a school trip into town by tube. And a number of parents preferred to drive them in themselves rather than take public transport because of the risk of terrorism. I didn't say anything but the risk of those children getting hurt in the car on the way in was far higher than the risk of a terrorist attack at that exact time. However, we are not rational when it comes to our kids, let them go and try not to let your anxiety get the better of you.

Exactly.

I suffer anxiety too, OP (yes, diagnosed and medicated).

However, what is helpful is to look at facts, the statistical risks of various activities.

The chances of being murdered by a terrorist in the UK are 1 in 11.4 million per year, for the last decade or so:

www.cato.org/blog/chance-being-murdered-or-injured-terrorist-attack-united-kingdom

This data showing the proportions of deaths from different causes may also be helpful for you and others to put the risk from terrorism into context.

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/deaths/datasets/weeklyprovisionalfiguresondeathsregisteredinenglandandwales

@Shockedmama

Yeah I do know that in my heart anf I know I’m going to let her go. I just needed some perspective sometimes I worry I’m letting her do something dangerous

Perspective? I just Googled and there are nearly nine million people in London. The chances of anything happening to your dd are vanishingly small.