Mythos_ said:
Edit:
@Otoki: I would not fear that. 6 year olds walk to school every morning, yet, I have not heard of any one getting grapped away.
Beside the other stuff you said, you're kidding on this, right?
No, kidding on the other stuff but (here in this town), the little kids go alown to school roughly from the 1st class (thus 6 years) and I have not heard of any kidnappings because of this.
Mythos_ said:
Edit:
@Otoki: I would not fear that. 6 year olds walk to school every morning, yet, I have not heard of any one getting grapped away.
Beside the other stuff you said, you're kidding on this, right?
No, kidding on the other stuff but (here in this town), the little kids go alown to school roughly from the 1st class (thus 6 years) and I have not heard of any kidnappings because of this.
And those are only the high-profile cases which have been broadcast on the worldwide media.
That all came from the first page of a simple search-engine search...you do the maths.
They do exist, and I find the statement of never hearing of any to be preposterous. However, despite the media attention they get, stereotypical kidnappings (i.e., kidnappings where the perpetrator was a stranger or slight acquaintance; the child was transported a great distance;and the intent was to ransom, keep, or kill the child) are fairly rare. At least in the US, which is the country for which I have numbers.
Basically, stereotypical kidnappings happen so rarely in comparison to other types that they don't even have an appreciable effect on the statistics. Even non-family abductions as a whole only count for about 22% of abductions.
So, while it's certainly possible children might be taken by a stranger, family members are really who you need to be afraid of.
slayn001 said:
oh my god, you are right ! we should keep all children under lock and key until they turn 30 to keep them safe.
I don't get why people respond this way. I tend to worry about the thought of a few kids wandering around at night, by themselves, to the train station.
Kids should be able to walk to school, sure, but I don't feel the same about being alone, at night, when most friendly neighborhood witnesses are probably asleep.
Neyrissa: 4 cases times x for those that did not get popular, devided by y for those that were not random kidnappings because they just happened to be there but planed with the kidnapper studying the victim's scedule ... worldwide over recent history. I do the math and it does not suprise me, that I did not hear of such a case here because it is so rare.
Otoki: It was 9 o'clock in the morning. And the train station is a very save place with more police and security persons then suspicious persons.
If this was some area in certain countries of Africa or South America, it would be something to worry about but not in Germany, USA or United Kingdom.
Did you even follow the links, Mythos? Only one of those was in the USA.
No, I do not think we should lock out children up, I walked/cycled to school, and my kids will do the same provided it's possible where I'll be living when the time comes. However, I find saying it's nothing to worry about, and something which doesn't happen often to be ignorant and verging on obtuse.
As I said, those were 4 cases from a 1 min search, the first page of a search engine. There's plenty more where that came from. I suggest you watch/real/listen to the news sometime.
And those are only the high-profile cases which have been broadcast on the worldwide media.
That all came from the first page of a simple search-engine search...you do the maths.
They do exist, and I find the statement of never hearing of any to be preposterous. However, despite the media attention they get, stereotypical kidnappings (i.e., kidnappings where the perpetrator was a stranger or slight acquaintance; the child was transported a great distance;and the intent was to ransom, keep, or kill the child) are fairly rare. At least in the US, which is the country for which I have numbers.
Basically, stereotypical kidnappings happen so rarely in comparison to other types that they don't even have an appreciable effect on the statistics. Even non-family abductions as a whole only count for about 22% of abductions.
So, while it's certainly possible children might be taken by a stranger, family members are really who you need to be afraid of.
it seems reasonable that this is the case. But a lot of it is surely due to good judgment of parents - if anything, your average parent is more likely to be overprotective than underprotective. If they feel it is safe to let their children walk to school in a small community in the early morning, chances are it is. But if children snuck out of their homes in the dead of night and went to train stations more often, it stands to reason there'd be an increase in kidnappings there. So while few stereotypical kidnappings occur, it doesn't follow that the situation in the original article was safe for the children.
Of course I follow links. And where do I say somethink like more 1 happened in the USA?? *check* I even wrote "worldwide" (1 USA, 1 German, 1 Belgium, 1 Austrian).
What exactly are you saying? One should just worry for the sake of being worried? Or because it's so bad, that one should be worried even if the probability is less then one in a billion? (consider: incident per population and day)
Okay, my initial statement was a bit to broadly. Of course I have heart of kidnapping in general. But even among kidnappings by strangers, it is usually not that they just drive through the streets looking for someone to grap. Those happen, too, and I would estimate, they have a media coverage of about 100%. Once or twice each year, in the whole country, none here in my city for as far as I can remember back.
And still, I think, that this is nothing to worry about. If you want to be worried about anything: It's the morning after New Year's Eve - they can more likely find some leftover firecracker, a lighter and seriously hurt themselves while experimenting with it. Or someone who partied really long could fall asleep while driving and hit them with the car. I would almost say, that it should be more worring, that they in fact manage to sneak into a random plane somehow and get lost in whereever it takes them.
And those are only the high-profile cases which have been broadcast on the worldwide media.
That all came from the first page of a simple search-engine search...you do the maths.
They do exist, and I find the statement of never hearing of any to be preposterous. However, despite the media attention they get, stereotypical kidnappings (i.e., kidnappings where the perpetrator was a stranger or slight acquaintance; the child was transported a great distance;and the intent was to ransom, keep, or kill the child) are fairly rare. At least in the US, which is the country for which I have numbers.
Basically, stereotypical kidnappings happen so rarely in comparison to other types that they don't even have an appreciable effect on the statistics. Even non-family abductions as a whole only count for about 22% of abductions.
So, while it's certainly possible children might be taken by a stranger, family members are really who you need to be afraid of.
it seems reasonable that this is the case. But a lot of it is surely due to good judgment of parents - if anything, your average parent is more likely to be overprotective than underprotective. If they feel it is safe to let their children walk to school in a small community in the early morning, chances are it is. But if children snuck out of their homes in the dead of night and went to train stations more often, it stands to reason there'd be an increase in kidnappings there. So while few stereotypical kidnappings occur, it doesn't follow that the situation in the original article was safe for the children.
I never argued that it was safe. I was simply pointing out that kidnappings of the sort used as examples are relatively rare, and there are greater dangers to worry about.
But I'm not convinced the rarity is entirely due to lack of opportunity, as hinted at in your post. From what I understand of the subject, opportunities abound, regardless of whether kids are sneaking out in the middle of the night. Though of course it's reasonable for a parents to reduce those opportunities as much possible and not let their kids wander train stations.
Kids tend to be more safe, when walking in groups. it is no different from when i was young than it is now. it is we are more aware now of what is out there than what we were before.
I child should live it's life being free of such worries. while still being aware of what is happening around them. the problem with cotton wool is you will find some kids are allergic and will shy away from such.
I miss the days when the whole community brought up and looked after their children.
Neyrissa
SUICIDEGIRL
United Kingdom
JAN 09, 2009 10:08 AM