INDUSTRYNEWS
SPONSORED BY ADVANCED KEYS
NEW RESEARCH REVEALS
DISTURBING IMPACT OF
BURGLARY ON CHILDREN
Children whose homes have been burgled are more
likely to struggle at school and have trouble sleeping,
according to new research (1) from independent charity,
Victim Support and home security specialist ADT.
Nearly 300,000 children are believed to be the victims
of break-ins every year in England and Wales. (2)
The first major survey into the impact
of burglary found that two thirds (63
per cent) of parents who had children
living at home when they were burgled
support the partnership’s call for
tougher sentences for burglars who
target family homes.
A quarter of parents (27 per cent) said
that their child’s sleep was affected
following a break-in at their home, while
one in ten (11 per cent) parents reported
it had a negative impact on their child’s
performance at school.
A third (32 per cent) of parents found
their children’s sense of personal safety
and well-being affected and one in ten
(10 per cent) reported an increase in their
child’s bed-wetting. Parents reported their
children were affected even if they were
not at home at the time.
Of the adults whose homes were burgled
as children, more than a third (37 per
cent) still feel that the experience affects
them in adulthood. One in three (35 per
cent) sleeps with the light on and 44 per
cent now prefer to sleep with someone
else in the house.
Two in five parents (39 per cent) say
that their children needed emotional
or psychological support following the
burglary. But a separate survey of young
burglary victims carried out by Victim
Support and ADT suggests that the impact
on children may often be greater than
even their parents realise.
Of the 53 children and young people
questioned, nearly one in three (30
per cent) admitted they still suffered
nightmares, and nearly a third (30 per
cent) said that the burglary had knocked
their self-confidence.
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THE MAY/JUN 2014 ISSUE
SPONSORED BY ASSA ABLOY Security Solutions
Residential Business Director of ADT,
Mark Shaw, said: “These statistics reveal,
for the first time ever, the true scale of
the impact burglary has on children.
Domestic burglary is a high volume crime,
but it’s wrongly perceived as being just
one of those things. We want to address
this in our Take No More campaign by
deterring burglars and supporting victims
- especially children, who are often the
forgotten victims.”
‘Children are often the
forgotten victims’
Assistant Chief Executive of Victim
Support, Adam Pemberton, said: “These
findings paint a disturbing picture about
the hidden [\X