Friday, May 11, 2007

Child Kidnapping and parents' responsibility

The kidnapping of Madeleine brought to notice the degree of protection children should have from their parents. The worst thing that can happen to parents is to have their children come to harm. Child kidnapping is stressful experience for the parents as a part of them is lost. Parents should be very attentive to their children. They should never leave them alone or with a person that can’t be trusted.

It is totally wrong to leave very young children alone unguarded. They can be attacked or kidnapped. There are cases in which infants were abducted by people wishing to have children as they can’t have their own. In some troubled countries, at least in the past years, children were abducted by armed groups to make of them child soldiers.

Even in normal societies, it can be difficult to offer total protection to children when they start going out unaccompanied as it may be the case when leaving home for school or for playing. Overprotecting children can be detrimental to their psychological make-up as they can’t grow easily to be independent adults. Children should be exposed to reality from young age to know how to cope later in life. They should also be taught how to avoid strangers. But the case of three-year-old Madeleine McCann shows even in supposedly secure places with CCTV and security guards, kidnapping can happen.

Perhaps the best thing to do is never to take one’s eyes off their children, one way or another. Children by nature can go where their curiosity leads them as they can be easily lured by strangers. Parents should foresee the consequences of leaving their children unattended.

Listen to part of the conversation on BBC WHYS

Parent protection ...

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