Hi Folks! So many people I talk to (especially for my upcoming show) are convinced that children area being kidnapped all the time, everywhere, that they cannot let their children go outside on their own. Here’s a succinct look at why parents feel this way, as presented in a comment by the reader whose screen name is “Socalledauthor.” – L.
Socalledauthor writes: Child abductions are not more frequent now than they were, however, they ARE more publicized. In my town (a semi-rural area), there was a child abducted in 1928. It got about two paragraphs in the local paper about how she was walking home from school and didn’t make it… when she was found, there was another small article.
Also in my town, in the last year, there was a child who went “missing.” For four days there were articles on him and what was known about his last whereabouts and how to keep children safe. FOUR DAYS of articles… and then, a short blurb (maybe four paragraphs) when it was revealed that he’d spent the time at a friend’s house because he was mad at his parents.
The point here is the difference in media coverage. Day after day, the front page of our local paper was about this missing boy. It makes it seem like the problem is bigger than it is. Conversely, my local paper gives only a paragraph every day or so to those hurt or killed in a car accident — because it happens so often that it has become common!
Fear does not equal fact. Just because you feel something is true does not make it so.
By the way, if you turn off the TV, you’ll find the world a less fearful place!
Filed under: Guest Post, Media Madness, Uncategorized | Tagged: abduction, fear, kidnap, media, news, newspaper, paranoia, predator | 79 Comments »