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Recreational Areas Urge Parents to Supervise Children More Closely Amid Rising Incidents
๐Ÿ‡ญ๐Ÿ‡ท Croatia /Culture & Society

Recreational Areas Urge Parents to Supervise Children More Closely Amid Rising Incidents

From Veฤernji List · () Croatian

Translated from Croatian, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

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  • Recreational areas are urging parents and supervisors to increase vigilance over children.
  • Officials report a rise in lost children and a concerning trend of parental distraction, often due to smartphones.
  • The Nekker domain in Mechelen saw lost child reports more than double in three years, with emergency alerts for missing children tripling.

Recreational areas are calling on parents and supervisors to pay closer attention to children, emphasizing that these sites are not childcare facilities. This plea comes amid a noticeable increase in children getting lost and a delayed reaction from guardians, according to reports from Gazet van Antwerpen.

We notice that people are more often distracted by their smartphone, resulting in less supervision or attentiveness to their children.

โ€” Arnold WittenbergAlderman of Sport for Hoogstraten Leeft, explaining the impact of smartphone use on child supervision.

Officials observe that many adults are frequently distracted by their smartphones, leading to diminished supervision. "We notice that people are more often distracted by their smartphone, resulting in less supervision or attentiveness to their children," stated Arnold Wittenberg, alderman of Sport for Hoogstraten Leeft. He added that depending on the crowd, it sometimes happens multiple times a day that someone is briefly lost.

Depending on the crowd, it sometimes happens multiple times a day that someone is briefly lost.

โ€” Arnold WittenbergAlderman of Sport for Hoogstraten Leeft, describing the frequency of lost child incidents.

The Nekker domain in Mechelen has reported a significant rise in incidents, with the number of lost child reports more than doubling in three years. Furthermore, the number of times the swimming area had to be evacuated and emergency services alerted for a missing child has tripled in the same period, escalating from zero instances in 2023 to 33 in 2025.

The Mosten is a domain where everyone is welcome, and we provide supervisors and lifeguards for emergencies, but it is not a childcare facility.

โ€” Arnold WittenbergAlderman of Sport for Hoogstraten Leeft, clarifying the role of recreational domain staff.

Similar trends are observed at the De Mosten recreational domain in Hoogstraten, where concrete numbers are unavailable but the problem is increasingly felt. Wittenberg stressed that while the domain provides supervisors and lifeguards for emergencies, the ultimate responsibility lies with parents. He urged visitors to be aware of their own responsibility, even with signage at the entrance, and to work together with the domain's staff for a safe experience. Schools visiting the domain are also reminded to ensure adequate supervision.

We are an extra pair of watchful eyes, but parents are also watchful eyes. Together, we see more.

โ€” Arnold WittenbergAlderman of Sport for Hoogstraten Leeft, emphasizing the need for shared responsibility in child supervision.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Veฤernji List in Croatian. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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