Parents too scared of social media judgement to admit their child had an accident, new research reveals

Child Accident Prevention Trust

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Parents left feeling inadequate after reading posts on Facebook and Instagram reveal they would not be willing to admit to their child suffering a serious accident for fear of being judged on social media, new research reveals.

The research, from the Child Accident Prevention Trust (CAPT), reveals that nearly three quarters (71%) of parents now feel under too much pressure to be ‘perfect parents’, with one in three (35%) unwilling to admit to an accident or near miss for fear of being judged.

Pressure from other parents’ posts on Facebook and Instagram just adds to the upset for parents, with nearly half (48%) feeling they are not good enough parents.

Young parents are most vulnerable to social media pressures to be perfect (85%), with almost half (46%) not wanting other people to know about their child having an accident.

Nearly three quarters (72%) of parents worry about their child having an accident, two in five (41%) would not want to admit it, if they were the only parent who appeared not to know about a risk to their child.

Katrina Phillips, chief executive of the Child Accident Prevention Trust, said: “Parents are living under a social media microscope, too scared to admit to less than Pinterest-perfect parenting for fear of being judged. This has worrying consequences for child safety.

"If parents no longer feel able to share their experiences or admit what they don’t know, we lose the chance to learn from each other and stop serious accidents to children.”

Dr Ian Maconochie of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said: “We know that more than 20% of total emergency department attendances in the UK are infants, children and young people.

"Whilst not all of these are preventable, many of them are.

"The College’s State of Child Health report, released earlier this year, highlighted the threat of accidents to the lives of our children and young people and described a number of ways accidents can be prevented.

“One route to reducing these is to educate and inform children, young people, their parents and carers about the dangers and how to avoid them, which is why this campaign is so important.”