Names on children's t shirts?

[Magpie]

Myself, I think it makes no difference either way, whether you put your kids names on their shirts, or don't.

Statistically, your child is FAR more likely to choke on a churro than be kidnapped by a stranger. The risk is SO small, that whether or not your child is wearing their first name on their chest has no impact on their personal safety one way or another.

There are over 83 million children under the age of 18 in the United States. Approximately 100 children are kidnapped by a stranger in any given year. That's a fraction so small, it's essentially zero.

Sure, you may be thinking, "But what do statistics matter, if it's MY child!? I should do every possible thing I can do to keep my child safe." But that way lies the road to madness. 663 children died in car accidents in 2015. That's more than six times the risk of a stranger kidnapping! And yet, we blithely buckle our kids into their car seats every day.

That said, if seeing their names is going to make you uncomfortable every time you look at your children, then don't put their names on their shirts. It's fine. Good parenting is so, SO much more than a name on a t-shirt.

And, because I always recommend it in discussions like this, this book is still one of the best, when it comes to raising confident, secure, safe kids:

 

[amberpi]

At Disney oh yes - just for fun - if they weren't I certainly wouldn't force them to wear them!

My dad was a "red team" "blue team" planner for our larger family twice/3 times a year beach trips. Mom made him stop for family WDW every summer trips when it was the 4 of us and she planned their annual adult trip. Me and all my cousins are kinda scarred from the matchy, matchy family trips. This was the late 80s-mid 90s, it wasn't fun or cool, dad was just Clark Griswold.

 

[PollyannaMom]

I'm planning on making/purchasing family t shirts for our trip to WDW in October - would you or would you not add the grandchildren's names on or just "big brother" "little sister" option ?

Depends on the kids in question - would they be thrilled to hear cast members call them by name, or freaked out if a nice stranger in line said "Oh, you have the same name as my neighbor!"

Personally, I'm OK with names. Like several people said above, if someone wanted to learn a kid's name, they'd only need to stand near them in line and listen to the people they're with.

So do whichever would make your grandkids happy/comfortable.

 

[amberpi]

As a risk consultant (financial mind you, but I worked for the largest risk consulting firm in the world for 10 years, so, I had colleagues down the hall in EVERYTHING), I would NOT put names on shirts, especially if they are not common names. I don't think your kid will snatched, but if you put the "Smith family" and a unique name and happen to drop what city you're from, it quickly becomes easy to lift an identity. But I'm nuts, I have a unique last name and my nephew and little cousins have downright WEIRD names (seriously, I always win that game, if you can "win"), so it'd be easy to get an address and from that, do some interest identity theft stuff.

 

[North of Mouse]

I, personally, would have no issues with putting the children's names on their shirts. Most parents are calling/shouting at their kids by name in crowds anyway. It's amazing how many children I 'know' by name when eating/standing in lines, etc. Would be kind of nice if their cautions 'would' keep some of it down -

Would not think not knowing names would deter serious offenders anyway - not that I've heard of it being a problem at Disney. Anything is possible anywhere.

 

[luvsJack]

I wasn't a small child but me even thinking one way or the other about a name on a shirt came from an experience as a teen.

A friend and I were both wearing jerseys with our first name on the back. We stopped at a store in a less than desirable part of town. As we were walking in someone called my name. I turned and started walking toward the person calling thinking it was someone from school. I suddenly realized I didn't know them and where they got my name. It was 4 or 5 older males in a car. Just made me realize how easy it is for you to think someone knows you when they call your name.

I don't see that being a problem so much at Disney with parents right there with you but in other situations it could be.

 

[Kellykins1218]

Well, I'm not paranoid so I see nothing wrong with putting kid's names on their shirts.

 

[jrmasm]

Well, I'm not paranoid So I see nothing wrong with putting kid's names on their shirts.

I'm with you.

 

[scrapquitler]

I would avoid using names on t-shirts. When I was a kid, I wanted an LL Bean backpack with my name, but my mom insisted on my initials so that no one could use my name to get my attention, particularly adults I didn't know who had bad intentions. I just think "big sister" and "little brother" or whatever variation of that you use is safer.

My Mom always said the same thing, so we never ever had anything personalized, and when I was a kid, that made me sad. I kind of thought the same thing when I had my own kids (oooh...stranger danger), but then one day when I was in the mall surrounded by families, I realized that I knew the names of the kids in almost all the families around us in the food court because I heard "Mikey, sit down, Sarah, don't put your fingers in your mouth", etc. Every parent was calling their children by name. If a stranger wanted to find out a child's name to lure him away, five minutes standing near the family would almost certainly disclose the child's name with almost no effort. I'd put the names on the shirt.

 

[DisneyOma]

As a risk consultant (financial mind you, but I worked for the largest risk consulting firm in the world for 10 years, so, I had colleagues down the hall in EVERYTHING), I would NOT put names on shirts, especially if they are not common names. I don't think your kid will snatched, but if you put the "Smith family" and a unique name and happen to drop what city you're from, it quickly becomes easy to lift an identity. But I'm nuts, I have a unique last name and my nephew and little cousins have downright WEIRD names (seriously, I always win that game, if you can "win"), so it'd be easy to get an address and from that, do some interest identity theft stuff.

Or let someone know a family is out of town so they can rob the house. How many crazy people put down where and when they are going on vacation on social media! I never do, and I don't post photos until I get back.

 

[jevs]

To be honest, I wouldn't have been happy with my kids wearing shirts with their names plastered over them when they were younger, I have no issue now that they're older.

 

[Klayfish]

Is your traveling party going to be ok with you buying matching tshirts? That's kinda a big ask for some people. I literally wouldn't have a non-dress and wouldn't do it anyway, just not something I'd do.

This. Each to their own, but if someone bought it for us as a surprise, I'd hope they wouldn't be offended that I wouldn't wear it. Just wouldn't do it.

As for the safety concern, I have bigger fish to fry than worrying if my kids' first name is on a t-shirt. I think sometimes we're a bit too overprotective. Heck, my kids play football and their last names are on their jerseys.

 

[Magpie]

Or let someone know a family is out of town so they can rob the house. How many crazy people put down where and when they are going on vacation on social media! I never do, and I don't post photos until I get back.

This seems like a bit of a stretch.

I agree that it can be unwise to post on social media about being out of town, since presumably there are people on your social media feed who live in your town and might see an opportunity to rob your place while you're gone (ie, the ne'er-do-well son of your college roommate who lives next door, etc). Of course, if you're leaving adult children and/or dog or house-sitting friends/Air B&B guests/whatever behind in your home, even that's not a big worry.

However, I find it highly implausible that someone at Disney will note the first names of my children on their shirts and then stalk us until they can overhear a "Last Name Party" announcement AND an offhand mention of our home town. Having acquired these three bits of info, they will then track down my home address. At which point (and without even knowing if there's actually anything of value in my home), they will either alert their confederates in my town or travel all the way over there themselves (bit of a trek, since I live in Canada), in order to break into my house while I'm off on vacation? I'm not sure anyone wants to put that much effort into committing a crime, when there's probably plenty of more appealing homes they can rob, right in Orlando.

Identity theft, sure! Robbing your house, not so much.

And even with that, there's likely easier and more efficient ways to commit identity fraud, than stalking random families through a theme park.