Trivializing a Serious Problem

Child abduction is a serious problem, we are told by the media and other well-meaning organizations. No argument there. Every horrific tale we hear sends parents into a panic. They tell their Precious Little Ones not to talk to strangers. They monitor what their kids view on the Internet. Whenever a convicted sex offender just released from prison wants to live in a certain neighborhood, the meetings are packed with folks who don't want him there.

TV stations and cable networks broadcast Amber Alerts for missing children, even though the reason they go missing mostly has to do with custody disputes. If it turns out that the child was sexually violated, showing the name and picture of that child is not just a bad idea, it might also do untold harm.

Meanwhile, in the name of safety, the kids are forced to stay home, playing video games and contributing to the nation's obesity epidemic.

So what happens when "stranger danger" turns into a false alarm, or becomes fodder for a sweeps-month TV news investigation?

1. Eden Prairie Police, according to an e-mail statement, recently investigated a report that an 11-year old girl said she was allegedly approached in the parking lot of a local church by a man in a vehicle claiming he was asked by the girl's mother to pick her up. The police determined, according to the statement, that "the incident was the result of a misunderstanding", and that "no suspicious activity took place". (See the full statement at http://www.edenprairie.org/)


2. Following an alleged attempted child abduction in Edina last week, MinnPost reported that the city's police sent e-mails to parents there informing them that a crew from KMSP (Fox Channel 9) would be cruising the neighborhoods in an SUV, asking kids for directions. Angry responses from parents and denunciations from media bloggers caused KMSP to scrap the story. Trish Van Pilsum, the station's investigative reporter who was mentioned in the e-mail, told MinnPost that the cruising never happened. The story was dropped before the e-mail was sent out, she says. (Much more of this can be found at www. minnpost.com.)

What are we to learn from all this? That innocent people sometimes get caught up in "misunderstandings" that involve the police? That TV stations are willing to risk the lives of children for the sake of ratings? Or that (at the risk of sounding hopelessly naive) we, as a society, need to step back and teach our children that the world is not always a dangerous place? It just seems that way.