Eight Years Ago!!

I was teaching a class that largely revolves around different types of national issues from homelessness to crime. The interesting thing about many of the Czechs is that they have lived for so long in a closed society. Though travel has of course opened up for them dramatically since the revolution, they are still sometimes restricted by money or motivation. In any case, I am often astounded by the perspectives they have. Today the issue was crime.
One of the more interesting things about living in the Czech Republic is the near absence of violent crime. In fact, except for a few pickpockets and the occasional mugging there is almost no crime at all. You can see this exemplified every day in the way they behave. The first time you see an 8 year old riding around the city's public transport alone be prepared for a little holier than thou shock. However, the one that really gets me is that mothers out for a days shopping will often leave their babies in their strollers outside the front door while inside. I'm not kidding. At first I thought this was insanity, but then remembered where I am. It's simply unthinkable for most Czechs that someone would do something horrible to their baby.
The point is that when I brought this topic up in class, the students' first reaction was to say that crime was out of control. We talked about that for a while, until I got them to admit that it was worse than it used to be, but that in comparison, was quite low. As part of my arguement I brought up the story about the babies. One of my students was quite surprised. She said Czech mothers are very responsible (which I have found to be very true), and that she thought they were being more careful. I asked why, and she said "well, we had a kidnapping eight years ago, and everyone was very concerned." I rest my case.