Social epidemic of kidnappings
How would you feel if your child were to go missing? The crime of kidnapping continues to get larger and more of a common problem each year. “2,300 children go missing daily” (Vuleta, 2023). Solutions to lower the rate of kidnapping can include community watch programs, making sure everyone is aware of the issue, and having a hands-on community to keep children safe. Also, take precautions at all times, whether that be at a grocery store or at a large social event; always have an eye on your child or sibling while staying alert of your surroundings. Addressing the social epidemic requires hands-on neighborhoods, alert parents, and law forces.
Community involvement is essential in the effort to address the crisis of missing children. Neighborhood watch programs create safe communities to actively participate in ensuring the safety of the many children. These programs create a secure and comfortable place when adults actively recognize and report suspicious activities: "Community members can also play a role in helping to keep kids safe within their community. Supervision is crucial in keeping kids safe and includes watching out for children in your community.". (Canadian Centre for Child Protection, 2020). This states that community is very important and helps build better relationships throughout the different neighborhoods for the good cause of limiting danger for children. People might express that neighbors shouldn’t be responsible for other kids and each parent is on their own, but in reality, when trying to keep your children safe, you tend to be helping others even without trying. “Communities can play a pivotal role in preventing kidnappings by fostering a culture of vigilance. Neighborhood watch programs, where residents keep an eye out for suspicious activities, can deter potential abductors” (How parents and society can prevent kidnappings | Open Privilege. (2024)). Community awareness campaigns bring neighborhoods together, fostering a sense of responsibility and unity within many communities. By promoting a culture of shared responsibility, communities become a crucial line of defense in preventing child disappearances.
Parents being alert and teaching kids the possibilities plays a significant role in preventing the amount of missing children around the world. Alert parents are essential since the majority of the time kids are with their parents or guardians. “One of the most effective ways to prevent kidnapping is by maintaining constant awareness of one's environment. Pay attention to people, vehicles, and activities around you, particularly in unfamiliar areas or during late hours.” ( How to Prevent Being Kidnapped. (2024) Staying alert at all times can be challenging, but it becomes easy when thinking of a child's safety. As stated, when in a new environment make sure you make mental notes of what is going on around you. Parents also need to teach children how to identify danger and the multiple possibilities that can occur. “Teach children basic safety rules, including stranger danger, identifying safe adults, and reporting incidents promptly.” ( How to Prevent Being Kidnapped. (2024)) Families can create code words with each other, teach kids how to be responsible online, walking to the bus stops with them, identifying safe adults, and so many other simple ways to create a safer environment. Staying alert of surroundings and educating children about taking precautions will help bring awareness to the issue of kidnappings and make them less likely.
The many law enforcement agencies also play a crucial role in limiting missing children as well as finding them. Collaboration and coordination within strategies to help missing children should have no hesitation and run completely smoothly to help bring awareness of such scary situations. Establishing specialized parts within law enforcement agencies dedicated to handling missing children cases further increases the odds and resources available for investigations: “In that time, much has also changed in the way the FBI conducts its investigations. Ready response teams are stationed across the country and able to quickly respond to abductions.” (Perkins, 2011). This approach ensures that law enforcement is equipped to address the unique challenges of these cases and increases the chances of successful resolution. Law enforcement are constantly looking for new or better ways to equip themselves for these situations to help them act faster when abductions occur. People might think that law enforcement should be the only solution to this crime but parents and communities need to alert and bring attention to help law enforcement be aware of specific areas where kids are at play and suspicious activities take place. The amount of different programs within law enforcement are endless. Each out there trying to help find missing children every day. Examples being Amber alerts, The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC), and so many more. “In 2021, NCMEC assisted law enforcement, families, and child welfare with 27,733 cases of missing children”. This is an extreme number to think about, but with these types of programs continuing to try and find better solutions the epidemic of kidnapping will be lessened.
The amount of different solutions each of these can help limit the amount of missing children's cases each year. Such as community awareness or neighborhood watch programs that help increase awareness of suspicious activities around one place. Also, parents should be alert and educate kids about the possibilities that can happen and how to prevent them. From code words and stranger danger, these are basic things that can help prevent a child from getting kidnapped. Lastly, law enforcement technology gets more advanced each year to help find and limit the idea of missing children. There are so many different programs to help bring global awareness to this issue, but everyone needs to be open to try and help. Unfortunately, there are bad people in the world who caused the epidemic of kidnapping, but there are also a lot more good people who are trying to prevent missing children and keep families from having to go through such pain. Hopefully bringing more and more awareness to this issue will cause rates to go down and a safer environment for children to thrive in.
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Work Cited
Child Welfare Information Gateway. (2020). Responding to youth missing from Foster Care. Responding to Youth Missing From Foster Care - Child Welfare Information Gateway. https://www.childwelfare.gov/topics/systemwide/laws-policies/statutes/missing-youth/
How parents and society can prevent kidnappings | Open Privilege. (2024). Open Privilege. https://www.openprivilege.com/relationships/how-parents-and-society-can-prevent-kidnappings-66b47e97d589b892221f4a8a
How to Prevent Being Kidnapped. (2024). Stunster.com. https://www.stunster.com/blog/how-to-prevent-being-kidnapped/
Perkins, K. L. (2011, March 2). Helping law enforcement find missing children. FBI. https://archives.fbi.gov/archives/news/testimony/helping-law-enforcement-find-missing-children
Vuleta, B. (2023, May 18). 30 scary kidnapping statistics you can’t afford to ignore. Find Best Law Jobs in the US in 2024. https://legaljobs.io/blog/kidnapping-statistics