I heard recently (that is today) about a potential abduction of an 8 year old girl near the Annemasse border which was fortunately prevented. This was not a domestic abduction but one by strangers. When the police arrived they mentioned that other attempts have been made in the past months, in the Geneva area
Given how easy accessible schools and 'maison de quartiers' are in Geneva (I compare this with Los Angeles) I wonder if there is a child alert system, where the police can send out for example sms messages to all cell phones
in a certain radius that gives a description of the child and perhaps its abductors?
In the US there is such a system called 'Amber alert'. For those not familiar with the term 'amber alert', below a description:
(voluntary) Partnership between law-enforcement agencies, broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for and the safe recovery of the child.
From what I heard, the police that arrived seemed 'very casual' about the incident, which I think is not the right approach when dealing with potential child abduction. If this happened in the LA region, it would be all over the news I must admit I did not hear the story from the person affected, but from 3 degrees of separation, but it got me wondering about the idea of amber alerts.
Nothing like a child abduction to get a small town jumping. Jeez, there are no Boogy Men running around stealing kids. This climate of fear is such a load of Horse. Worry more about getting in a car and some drunk / medicated idiot slamming into you than the 'mysterious foreign phantom' playing his evil flute...
Thank you john_semour for bringing up this subject. Thanks for reminding me that even though I am now living in Switzerland, I still need to be viligant.
When I hear of a story of a kidnapped child or a possible abduction, it fills my mind as a parent of the terrifying prospect that it could happen to my family. But it's important to remember that the majority of children will pass through childhood safely. One of the challenges of being a parent is to teach your children to be cautious without filling them with too much fear or anxiety. Although some dangers do exist, there are steps that you can take to lessen the chances that your child will be abducted.
Even though I have only been here 4 months, I have been warned twice about child abductions. The first was by a Swiss lady (she claimed to be a lawyer) on the train at the Swiss-Italian border. And the second time was by the ticket inspector on the bus here in Zurich.
Surely DaveA, the intentions of john_semour is no different to your post about your stolen bike. After reading your post, it prompted me to buy a lock for our cellar to hopefully keep our new bikes from being pinched.
And UncleMax, even in Switzerland kids go missing. Perhaps you might want to have a look at the sites below:
Proportional response. The risk is very small. Beyond being a responsible parent, you cant keep your kids wrapped in cotton-wool. If you are asking am I going to chain my kids up in the cellar like my new bike, or fit them with transponders then I think not. But panic-on. Dont mind me.
Yes apart from being more and more responsible, alert & careful there is nothing much a parent can do and unfortunately there is no upperlimit of being more responsible with your child. You can always be more responsible....
Being a parent, reading this I am not panicking, but getting to know that child abduction does happen in Switzerland too makes me extra alert.
Normally everybody thinks Switzerland is a very very safe place with almost no crime, so information like this is alarming and helpful.
I would like to share an incident:
Once we were in Bern and tired from the long walk I just sat in front of the stairs of the "Einstein Haus" keeping my BackPack next to me. I think I stood up once to stretch and it was gone.. stolen.... It had all my childs food and milk and off course my purse with all CC and cash and we had to return home (zurich) ASAP coz we had no extra food for the baby. Now I never expected this kind of a thing to happen in Switerland (one of the safest place on earth) . Definately I would have been very carefull if I was in a tourist spot in Italy (no offense meant ).
So moral of the story is sharing this kinda information is always helpful and I dont think this creates panic but yes it does make you more alert (again no upper limit) .
Again I woild like to mention that 2 yrs ago (my son is 2) I wouldnt have thanked anyone for this info.
I'm sure it's been going on since the dawn of time and that the percentage of abduction today is probably lower than it ever has been due to the wrapping in cotton wool of children by over-protective parents.
As the world's population continues to spiral out of control I'm sure the number of abductions will probably increase, but the percentage of the child population that is actually abducted will probably stay the same or even decrease.
IMHO I just think it is foolish to think this is a recent activity. With the absolute plethora in today's society of media reporting on everything from Brittney Spear's latest purchase from D&G to the color of Gordon Brown's socks makes it stand out that much more.
Was it a Michael Moore book where he describes a Swedish Au Pair in the US getting lynched by 'concerned' passers-by once they realise it was she who left an unattended baby in a pram outside a store for a few minutes?
"A Baby is not a Bicycle!!!" was, if I remember correctly, the title of the chapter.
Fear
Fear
Fear
Fear
Vote for us - we'll keep you safe
Drive a 4x4 Cayenne
Buy this medication if you care
Watch out for ticks in the forest
Boogy man, Boogy man...
I've lived and worked in some pretty desperate places in the World and the regard shown to children is universally benign. I've only encountered neurotic fear about the 'Boogy Man' in the wealthiest environments. I wonder from where this fear comes?
Or is it just me who thinks scraped knees are an essential part of childhood?
I don't agree. I think too many parents are too cautious & too responsible with their kids so the kids end up wrapped in cotton wool unable to think for theirselves or have any idea how to assess risk or danger on their own. Kids should have bruises & cuts from playing, jumping & messing around, how else will they learn. Of course this has to be age appropriate for the child but I say let them climb trees.
As for abductions, every one that happens is one too many but the risk is very low. We have taught our son what to do if someone tries to get him in a car or act in an inappropriate way with him but beyond that I refuse to give in the the tabloid hysteria.
I fell out of a tree when I was six years old head-first. Smashed my head on a tree stump, and ripped-open my left nostril and eyebrow (still got the scars). You should see the state of the tree. I dont know if I hadnt been there, whether it would have made a sound....
Anyway aint done me no harm, and a lifetime of tree scrambling later. Just the other week I was calling: "I can see your house from here!" to a colleague, and fell out of yet another tall tree... oh how we laughed !
I'd think such a system would have a problem, that any parent whos child disappears for a few hours would want to use it - but it only takes a few cases of a child wandering off or going round to a friends without letting an anxious parent know and people will get desensitised to them. "Oh no, not another amber alert".
But if you leave it long enough to be sure the child actually IS gone, and likely abducted, then by the time you trigger the alert, chances are they'll be out of the area.
So I guess I'm not convinced by that idea. Especially as it'd get extended quickly ... I mean why alert for a missing child but not a missing adult, or a known criminal in the area, etc.
Mmmm, I think the Boogie Man (from the wealthy environment) is interested to all kids.
By the way, I am always a little weary of “Uncles”. The image that comes to mind is a man with a flute, offering sweets to unassuming children and leading them away to ....