A friend of mine and I were talking about the state of the world today. Like me, she’s the mother of a preschooler, and she has been convinced by everyone around her that her children are in constant danger from germs, child molesters, drug dealers and murderers. Her dentist warns her against the dental dangers of sippy cups and raisins. Her son’s teacher tells her about the perils of magnets. And of course, her television and internet connection provides all sorts of other terrors to keep her awake at night.

Is the world really worse off when than when we were children? Or is it just that nowadays we are inundated with bad news and warnings about how dangerous things are? Every day, I can turn on one of a dozen 24-hour news stations to hear about the latest serial killer, natural disaster or devastating war. I can walk through the grocery store checkout and see ten tabloid headlines screaming at me about the end of the world. But my personal favorite source of impending doom updates is e-mail.

At least three times a week, one of my very well-meaning e-mail correspondents forwards me an urgent safety notice: Don’t sniff perfume samples because serial rapists put chloroform in them to drug unsuspecting women. Don’t drink soda pop directly from the can because rat urine on the can will give you a deadly disease. Don’t flash your headlights at cars without their lights on because gang members use that as a signal to kill you.

The other day, I received an e-mail that listed 10 safety guidelines to remember when you’re getting in your car in a public parking lot. 10 THINGS?!? I can barely remember where I parked and which key goes to my car, let alone another 10 points of safety!

In a world far too eager to provide anxious parents with worrisome advice, I have found two means of saving my relative sanity. The first is to simply turn off the news and avoid the headlines whenever you start feeling overwhelmed.

The second, and most practical piece of advice I can give any nervous parent, is to check www.snopes.com , one of the best sites on the web! Edited by Barbara and David Mikkelson, the site delves into the origins of urban legends, myths and viral e-mails. It is thoroughly researched and well-written and helps me sleep just a little bit better.

So the next time you get one of those scary e-mail warnings or a well-meaning friend tells you that his cousin’s ex-husband’s sister’s uncle told him that using your cell phone in a hospital can kill a person on life support, take a deep breath and check out snopes.com.