Police are advising parents to be alert, but not alarmed, about increased reports of suspicious approaches to children in recent months.
Yesterday, Hawke's Bay Today reported on a Taradale High School student who was grabbed after school last Friday, a little less than a month following a Tamatea High School student being approached and grabbed by a man on the way to school.
Police said yesterday that while they could not pinpoint the cause of the recent increase, historically reports of this type jumped after increased publicity.
"The increase in reporting does not necessarily translate to an increase in offending," the police statement said.
National prevention manager superintendent Eric Tibbott said child abductions in New Zealand were extremely rare and most of those were custodial-related.