I don't doubt this is true, or even necessary (in an evolutionary sense), but it's things like this that make me avoid children in public. There is something in that protective instinct that makes parents slightly insane.

If I see a kid in a store, lost and screaming in terror, and there are any other adults anywhere close, I'll fight my desire to help, and then turn and walk the other way. Because of the parents. I don't want to be anywhere in the vicinity when the parent arrives, fuming at everyone else, when they should really be looking in the mirror.

It's as if, where kids are concerned, there is no concept of honest, daily risk acknowledged any more. The only language spoken is blame, as if the world would be perfectly secure without humans to make mistakes in it. To be honest, that's bull. Accidents happen, especially to kids, who can be little Houdinis and Indiana Joneses as they explore their surroundings without fear. Most of the time it turns out fine, and probably every one of us has the minor scars to prove it. Sometimes it doesn't, and that is a tragedy, but not always a crime.