Child Abduction
Child AbductionChild abduction. It isn't fun for anyone involved. The person that takes the child may at first think it is a great idea but after a while they will realize how much work it actually is. It is near impossible to conceal a kidnapped child in the world today. There was a recent case where a child was taken by his father, his parents recently being divorced, from his home in the United States, to his hometown in a foreign country. With the rules in place there, the mother was unable to get her child back, having gone through courts and biding by the law. It was only recently the U.S. courts demanded that the child be returned. The parent, or parents, that the child is taken from may feel that their lives are over. They go through many emotions ranging from sad to angry. First they have to deal with the fact that their child is now gone and then they have to go through the stressful process of trying to find them and get them back. Ask any parent of an abducted child and they will say that the wait is the hardest. Not knowing whether or not their child is alive, waiting for that phone call that will decide the rest of their lives for them. That is a phone call many of the parents get. Most abducted children do not return home, having begun a new life, if it was a parent or relative abductor, or being abused and killed by an unfamiliar abductor. Here are a few facts about child abduction:
-1 child goes missing every 40 seconds -354,000 abductions occur within the family each year -over � of the abductors are men -49% of abductors have criminal records -4,600 stranger abductions occur each year -sexual assault is most common as a motive -75% of all abductions involve a weapon of some sort . After everything that happens to all parties involved there can be short and long term effects for the most innocent person, the child. There can be an alteration to appearance, hair being cut or dyed. Their names can easily be changed and their true identities lost. Health problems may be ignored and can result in death in that way, neglect. They also could be neglected mentally. Their education can be ignored and living conditions can become unstable and even result in homelessness. If a child is abducted by a parent, they can turn the child against the other parent. The child is uprooted from everything they know and thrown into a life of lies and deceit. If the child grows up in a life like this, into young adults, they may never lead a normal life. In the case mentioned in the beginning of this essay, the child, upon return to his mother, could not remember her and, in fact, was told that she was dead. It will take a long time for the mother to regain his trust and get to know her child again. Many things could be done, both by the child, and by parents, to ensure the safety of the child. These will be discussed later in this informative package. The main thing to do with your child to ensure their safety is to teach them not to trust or talk to strangers and also not to be afraid to ask for help. There are now programs being introduced to elementary school teachers to instruct students on how to guard themselves against a kidnapping. A life can be saved simply by taking a short time out of your day to teach your child the most basic rules of survival.