# Attempted Child Abduction - only takes seconds **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 9, 2012, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350 "2012-02-09T22:26:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/21 "2012-02-10T19:46:18Z")
House fires are rare as well, but we’re supposed to coach kids on how to react if there’s a fire - how to crawl along the floor under the smoke, never hide from a fire or firefighters, where to meet outside the house, etc. I don’t see any problem with a little bit of “if a stranger tries to get you into his car or grab you in a store, this is what you do” training too. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/22 "2012-02-10T20:08:41Z")
> [@phreesh](#): > > Amen. I hate to see these stories. People just freak out and tell each other how dangerous the world is and how children should never be left alone and how all strangers are dangerous. > > Stories like this and successful predators just give people more reasons to close up their children’s lives and create further social disconnection. Indeed. Remember Adam Walsh? He was the kidnapped and murdered son of John Walsh, of America’s Most Wanted fame. I was the same age, and was in the same Sears a day or two before the kidnapping, doing the same thing - left alone to play video games while my mother shopped. That whole ordeal was the first time in my childhood that I became aware that there were evil people in the world. That crime robbed me of my previously carefree childhood. The memories of my childhood are very clearly delineated as pre-Adam Walsh and post-Adam Walsh. It wasn’t just me though. Pretty much everyone in my age group that lived in the area at the time remembers how things changed overnight. Before that, people you didn’t know were presumed to be friendly. After, strangers were presumed to be dangers. Halloweens where kids were previously allowed to wander the neighborhoods largely unsupervised were a thing of the past. That’s also when rumors of evil people slipping poison and razor blades into Halloween candy became prevalent (at least in my childhood world), prompting some parents to halt door-to-door trick-or-treating, and others to take their children’s candy haul to the hospital to have it x-rayed before allowing their kids to touch any of it. I don’t really have a point in relating this story, other than maybe showing how such statistically outlying crimes can have a _major_ impact on a whole society. The crime that was perpetrated against the Walsh family was barbarous and terrible, but in a way, the crime that was perpetrated against the whole society at large was even worse, at least in scale. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/23 "2012-02-10T21:12:23Z")
Another thing to teach kids if they are lost in a store to go to the customer service desk. Show them where it is in the store. Tell them tell those peole page their caretaker and to not talk or go with anyone else. ---
**Author:** ![spankthecrumpet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a87d85/32.png) [@spankthecrumpet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spankthecrumpet)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/24 "2012-02-10T21:20:37Z")
That video is sickening, the old cliche about shivers up your spine is exactly right. Having said that, the dialects are interesting. To my ears, everyone sounds drunk, even the little kid. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/25 "2012-02-10T21:37:54Z")
Aww crap. Within about 15 minutes of writing my previous post I kept hearing a helicopter repeated flying overhead very low. And by repeatedly, I mean A LOT, and by low I mean low enough to shake stuff. Then my phone rings with a robocall from the Sheriff’s office saying that a two year old girl is currently missing in my area. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/26 "2012-02-10T21:54:03Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > Aww crap. Within about 15 minutes of writing my previous post I kept hearing a helicopter repeated flying overhead very low. And by repeatedly, I mean A LOT, and by low I mean low enough to shake stuff. Then my phone rings with a robocall from the Sheriff’s office saying that a two year old girl is currently missing in my area. ☹ Some years ago there was a program that dialed hundreds of phone numbers in a specific geographic area on demand by the sheriff, if someone (child or otherwise) was reported missing. I got one of those calls once, when a deranged man could not be found. I wonder if that program still exists. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/27 "2012-02-10T21:55:43Z")
> [@perfectparanoia](#): > > Different school of thought here. Given the chances of my kids being abducted by a stranger is incredibly low, I don’t make a big deal of it. Yeah, most abductions are parents in custody battles, IIRC. I think that I have mentioned it here on the boards in the past, but I used to be the assistant manager of a large suburban Toronto shopping mall. One day on my lunch break I intervened in an attempted child abduction (father and maternal grandmother tried to take child from the mother), poor kids parents were divorced and it seems they had a hate on for each other. There were cultural things in play since the family was Indian/Pakistani in origin. After the incident, the manager called me into his office to offer heartfelt gratitude for stopping it. He had been the manager at a mall a couple of years earlier where a child was abducted by a “family friend” and murdered. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/28 "2012-02-10T22:05:05Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Some years ago there was a program that dialed hundreds of phone numbers in a specific geographic area on demand by the sheriff, if someone (child or otherwise) was reported missing. I got one of those calls once, when a deranged man could not be found. I wonder if that program still exists. Yeah, it still exists. The robocall referred to [this website.](http://achildismissing.org/) Just saw on the news that they found the girl in a canal. She was airlifted to the hospital, condition unknown. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Toucanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Toucanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toucanna)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2012, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/29 "2012-02-10T23:30:59Z")
On a few occasions, I’ve been in a store (both large and small) and come across a child who had the “where the hell is my mommy?!?” look on his or her face. I knelt down and asked them, “Did you lose your {responsible adult}?” Asking them if they are lost doesn’t help–they know where _they_ are, they just don’t know where their R.A. is. I will then point to the cashier’s station and tell the child, “We are going to go to where the store employees work and I’m going to ask them to find your R.A.” Then I shepherd the child (without touching them), to the cashier, explain the situation, make sure they make the announcement, then tell the child, “Stay here until your R.A. comes to get you. The employees will look after you. The next time you are in a store and can’t find your R.A., go to the cashier and ask them to help you.” I’m always very nervous about doing this, because sometimes it’s a long walk to the cashier station and I don’t want the R.A. to swoop down on me out of nowhere and accuse me of inappropriate behavior. FWIW, sometimes the child was, IMO, in obvious emotional distress, but no one else noticed. They just walked past the child. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/30 "2012-02-13T19:33:07Z")
> [@Omega\_Glory](#): > > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyixU8zfU20](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyixU8zfU20) That’s a pretty cool video and experiment. Good job on those guys who acted! Though if they were wrong in real life most people would probably tell them to mind their business Also, I have to add this, cause its perfect for this situation :D: They weren’t gonna help her, the black guys are just mad cause there was kidnapping going on and they weren’t involved! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/31 "2012-02-13T20:56:23Z")
I’ve been meaning to get one of my friends who my son has never met to run a test on my kid to see how easy it would be to lure him out of a store. If I wandered away and let my friend approach my son and tell him “Hey, your dad had to run outside to the car. He wanted me to show you where he is. C’mon, let’s go find him.” I’d like to think my son would be smart enough not to go but I could also see him easily falling for it. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/32 "2012-02-13T21:36:42Z")
Well, 2-year-old [Jamie Bulger](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger) was kidnapped, tortured and murdered, by two older kids who were strangers to him. His Mum had only lost sight of him for a minute (there was a hell of a lot of media attention at the time - if she’d left him wandering for ages, we’d know). So yes, it can only take a momentary loss for it to be a permanent one. That doesn’t mean that we have to worry about it constantly or terrify our kids, but I don’t think it’s necessary to go to those extremes to teach your kid not to go off with a stranger. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2012, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/33 "2012-02-13T23:04:02Z")
–but you’re stuck with the kid _forever_. So think \*carefully \*before trying it, folks! ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/34 "2012-02-14T00:57:59Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > –but you’re stuck with the kid _forever_. So think \*carefully \*before trying it, folks! Been reading [The Ransom of Red Chief?](http://www.online-literature.com/yeats/1041/) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350/35 "2012-02-14T17:07:38Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > Absolutely talk to your kids. Tell them to kick and scream and bite if the are grabbed by someone they don’t know, or someone they do know that isn’t on the short list of people it’s ok to have hold me. Tell them not to go help looking for lost puppies or take candy from strangers. Have a safe word that you’ll give mom and dads friends if you send someone she doesn’t know to pick her up. Ours was kangaroo and they shouldn’t get into a car with anyone that doesn’t know the word except mom, dad, and in our case grandma and the next door neighbor. > > Eta: we had a suspected predititor trying to coax girls into his van at the middle school last year. The girls were walkers walking home from school. They went home and did what they were supposed to, called their parents or the police. The guy was not caught, police cars patrolling the neighborhood when school is out kept him away and none of the kids got a plate number. But, like brittney, the girls knew what to do. I’ve been a lurker here for a while, but this thread made me decide to join. As other people have said, “stranger danger” is vastly overblown. Advice such as yours can backfire. Some time back, there was an 11-year-old boy who got lost in the wilderness. He was finally found ok, but he would have been found much sooner than he was, except for one thing– **some misguided person had made him so afraid of strangers that he refused to go talk to the searchers even though he saw them.** > **[Star-News - Google News Archive Search](https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=7BBPAAAAIBAJ&sjid=qB8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=5012,2057871&hl=en)** [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/attempted-child-abduction-only-takes-seconds/612350.md?page=1)