I am hurt. :(

Heh. :)

Dont get me wrong... I do enjoy the wind in the leaves...
Its just my go go go corporate takeover lifestyle. but I can change.

In an ideal world. :)

I won't deny that us childfree folk violate the "natural order." And I think that's why some people don't like it...it's not "natural." Add those folks to religious zealots and you have a molotov ready to go.

Like I said in my original post, I feel sorry to a degree for militant cf folks...they've probably been pressured to no end by friends, family, and (indirectly) society. But as a whole, I find them immature, forgetting that they once were children themselves. I want no part of them and their rhetoric. Children running around like nuts in a Wal-Mart does irritate the hell out of me...but come on! Life is full of little irritations, most far worse than screaming children.

How are you parents handling this rash of child disappearances? Have your kids come to you with any questions or concerns? Have you talked with your kids about these cases as a whole?

I can't even fathom what it would feel like to have my own child snatched away from me. I can only imagine that it is one of the most incredible hurts that one could ever experience.

Nobody has anything to say? My own opinion is that there isn't a rash of child disappearances, but a rash of *news reporting* about child disappearances. The media learned that it could grab attention by showing us pictures of the kids every time it happens. The parents learned they had a better chance of recovering their kids if everyone in the nation was watching. Suddenly a new Crisis.

Definitely one worth reporting on. If one child gets returned, ever, because of all the media attention, then it was worth it.

I suspect you might be right on that UT...we'd have to look at the stats to see if there has been any sort of spike.

But if we go with that...why all of a sudden is the media gravitating towards these? An attempt to get us past 9/11 or the economy? Time filler? (After all, this is generally the slow season for news.) Sure, any disappearance is horrible, but in reality, who the fuck really cares if one girl was taken from the Los Angeles area? I would imagine that several more have disappeared since that girl was found dead.

But regardless of the why, I am curious as to how the kids themselves are feeling. When you're 8 years old, and you see this shit on TV, I would imagine that some are damned near terrified.

I don't doubt that the media has helped in these cases. However, I would argue that they could also be putting these kids in further jeopardy. If you have an unstable person taking a child, then he sees all the media coverage, he could be driven to harm the child when it originally wasn't the intention. Of course, it could work the other way as well, i.e. kick in the abductor's guilty conscience.

Child abductions are actually down.

Oh...we're just supposed to take your words as law, right, crackhead?

Just kidding. :) I've read about some of the stats...for a country as large as ours, the numbers seem incredibly low. A good thing, of course.

I don't think people should be locking their kids inside the house b/c of a few well-publicized kidnappings. But from what I understand so far about the girl here in Philadelphia, I believe it could have been prevented. This morning, it was reported that the girl was walking with a 5 year old friend outside at 9 in the evening. What I'm reading now says she was at a street corner shortly before 10pm (the two situations could certainly be related). In addition, I have not seen anything that says this girl was under adult supervision. If this is the case, what the hell is a 7 year old girl doing outside without an adult after dark in one of Philadelphia's worst neighborhoods? That seems like outright negligence.

I wonder how much of an impact sex offender or predator crime notification laws have had in reducing abductions. There was just a case here of a level 3 (they say the profile most likely to repeat) offender who broke probation and was reported approaching kids in a downtown park. I never heard if they caught him, but they plastered his picture all over and there was much on the news about tips for kids. So no news is good news.

Then there was a case a while back here of a 11 year old girl who reported her attempted abduction but she was found to be lying for the media attention. She got on the news.

One kid tip that I actually saw in use was the "code word" When I was teaching little ones, there was a family going through a legal battle- the kids got picked up on a schedule of the few approved people and if the plans changed, they were given a code word. some how they managed to make that work. Some sad shit, though.

I am a big believer in fear instincts and being loud. One interesting thing I've heard on some TV thang, which is counter to how I was taught, is Not to tell a kid in trouble or lost to find a cop (or an easily mistaken uniformed man, which is a ploy that has been used by offenders) but rather to run to the nearest woman who is far less statistically likely to be a predator. Geezz.

She lives there.

It just came over MSNBC...she was found alive and safe. :)

We know that already from the news...that wasn't my question.

Certainly the residents of Kingsessing know that it is not the best part of the city. As it is a rough area, I would think that many if not most residents would take precautions to protect themselves and their families. Common sense would seem to dictate that a 7-year old child should not be outside unsupervised after dark, ESPECIALLY in Kingsessing. So, if there was no supervising adult around, why not?

*Found* alive and safe"? She was a little more proactive than that. Got out of the duct tape she was bound with, broke though a locked door, and broke a window and called out to her friends in the street,

The newswire is giving the time of her abduction as around 9:40pm.. Not unreasonably late for a city kid to be playing outside with her friends in the summertime, IMHO. Especially one with this level of independance and initiative.

A lot of childraising is judgement calls based on your knowlege of your child. True, some folks have better judgement than others, but this could happen in *any* neighborhood.
It is admittedly somewhat more likely in a neighborhood like that one where the kids don't have nice yards to play in, making a grab easier to execute.

But that's why I said "She lives there." ...I *was* responding to your question. When kids have no place to play but the streets on a hot summer night, that's where you will find them.

On mirror: <i>"You are looking at the person responsible for your safety."</i>

I doubt she had <b>no</b> place to play. She could always play inside.

I would say that it's a bit irresponsible to be letting little girls outside by themselves in a big city late at night. What time does it get dark in Philadelphia? Before 9:40?

You seem to have no trouble saying "Look, maybe it wasn't illegal, but it sure was stupid" about people knocking on back doors when they're drunk... yet letting a child play outside in the big city so late at night is perfectly acceptable and not at all irresponsible? Yeah, it wasn't illegal to play outside, and she <b>should</b> be able to... but Philadelphia isn't a utopian city and it sure as hell doesn't make sense <b>to me</b> to let seven year old girls play outside, at night, in the city.