Christie Barnes is the author of a book called "The Paranoid Parents Guide", and she asked tons of parents what their biggest worries are.  Then, she compared their top five worries to the top five ways kids are ACTUALLY hurt or killed.

Here's what she found:  The five things parents worry about the most are COMPLETELY different than the five biggest dangers to children.

The five things parents worry about the most are:  Kidnapping . . . school shootings . . . terrorists . . . dangerous strangers . . . and drugs.

And the five things most responsible for children being hurt or killed are:  Car accidents . . . homicide, almost always by a person who knows the child and not a stranger . . . abuse . . . suicide . . . and drowning.

Christie says the divide is because the news focuses on the rare events that FREAK parents out.  So a kidnapping will be the top story on the news . . . but a child dying in a car crash probably wouldn't even make the broadcast.

-In her research, she found the BEST thing you can do to keep your kids safe is to make them wear helmets when they bike and skateboard, and make them wear seatbelts in the car.

That'll cut down on your kid's chance of dying by 90% and of getting seriously hurt by 78%. 

Here Are Your Odds Of Dying From Cancer, Lightning, A Plane Crash, And Other Things
 

Heart disease:  1 in 6.

 Cancer:  1 in 7.

Stroke:  1 in 28.

Car accident:  1 in 85.

Suicide:  1 in 115.

Accidentally being exposed to toxic substances or poison:  1 in 139.

Falling:  1 in 184.

Getting shot:  1 in 300.

Drowning:  1 in 1,073.

Plane crash:  1 in 5,862.  (--This figure made plane crashes seem a bit too common to us, but when you consider that it involves all types of aviation, not just commercial airliners, it makes more sense.)

Contact with hornets, wasps or bees:  1 in 62,950.

Struck by lightning:  1 in 81,701.

Earthquake:  1 in 153,597.

Getting possessed by Satan:  1 in 537,212.  (--That's based on the current rate of about 37,500 exorcisms being performed annually in the U.S.)