Are there similarities in the abduction cases making news? For instance, are girls more at risk than boys?
No, there are as many little boys as there are little girls being taken. A couple of these high profile cases appear to involve people who weren’t familiar to the child. Others involve people the child knew. We try to reiterate to people: you can no longer go down the “Stranger Danger” route in talking to kids. Most children are taken by people they know. Out of the many thousands of cases we see each year, only a few hundred are stranger abductions. But it’s easier to tell kids, “Don’t talk to strangers.” How do you tell kids that a relative might abduct them, and expect them to grow up trusting anyone? This is a problem; we teach our children to be trusting of police officers and firemen when we know that those people can’t always be trusted. It extends to friends and family – the tutor or the uncle. The most important thing is to lay ground rules: you don’t go anywhere with anyone unless your parents know about it. The parent needs to know where the child is at all times. Does abduc
