This summer, we have become all too familiar with headlines and news stories about children who have been snatched from their bedrooms and yards by strangers. The intense media spotlight on recent child abduction cases has resulted in harrowing broadcasts in which a family will plea for their child's safe return. Some news agencies broadcast descriptions of possible suspects, and others interview locals who express shock that such a crime was committed in their community.

Sharpened cognizance of child abductions is important, but it's regretful when heightened media coverage incites unnecessary fear among the public. "The average person that sits and watches the news at night sees the focus on these cases and believes that these cases are increasing in number when that's not correct," said Ben Ermini, director of the Missing Children's Division at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in Alexandria, VA. Ermini said that as indicated by the number of cases the Center receives each year, the number of non-family abductions is decreasing. "We receive just under 100 stranger abduction cases a year and as of now, we have 51 cases that have been reported this year. This is slightly under last year's numbers. We're estimating that there's going to be a decrease in the numbers from previous years from what we see here and other figures that we have seen." The White House reported Tuesday that each year, more than 58,000 children in the United States are abducted by non-family members and that 40 percent of the children abducted in stranger kidnappings are killed.

Georgia Hilgeman-Hammond, executive director of Vanished Children's Alliance in San Jose, CA, describes the media spotlight as a "double-edged sword." She said the media educates the public and empowers families to develop preventative approaches to child safety, but that the media's focus does not always accurately represent the issue. "What we see [covered by the media] are these very unusual cases of stranger abductions," she said. "What you don't see is that the majority of missing children are runaways and family abductions, and that group of missing children does not get the exposure or the attention that these other cases get."

The media frenzy began in February after 7-year-old Danielle van Dam was abducted from her home in a San Diego suburb and murdered. Since then, the media have covered numerous cases with a mixture of joyful and tragic conclusions. In July, we were saddened to hear reports about the murder of Cassandra Williamson, 6, outside of St. Louis. And on the flip side of things, the nation rejoiced with the triumph of 7-year old Erica Pratt who chewed her way through duct tape and managed to evade her captors in Philadelphia.

The fear-factor that surrounds child abduction cases is behind the public's draw to the media spotlight. "You put your children to bed at night and you expect them to be safe," said Kym Pasqualini, president of Nation's Missing Children's Organization in Phoenix. "What we're seeing is a lot of media attention to several cases that have extraordinary dynamics involved. When a little girl is ripped away from her front yard kicking and screaming and the witness is a very young child who could provide witness information, that in itself is extraordinary." According to Hilgeman-Hammond, the fear-factor is not always a bad thing. "Whenever the public hears about these high-profile cases, people get scared. While fear is not necessarily a bad thing, it's important that it leads to some form of empowerment and that is when people want to take action and want information," she said.

Ermini, Hilgeman-Hammond, and Pasqualini each stated that media coverage is an important part of the collaborative effort necessary to solve child abduction cases. They each stated that the media are venues for providing the public with important information about missing children. For example, a link posted on the CNN website last week read, "CNN has compiled an interactive gallery of recent missing-youngster cases that have captured headlines and prompted parents to be more vigilant."

Other sources have also recently published tips for parents and teachers about how to talk to children about safety and abduction. President George W. Bush announced Tuesday the release of "Personal Safety for Children: A Guide for Parents," a new guidebook that is available online at www.missingkids.com. President Bush also set a conference on Missing, Exploited and Runaway Children to meet September 24 at George Washington University in Washington, D.C. to "bring policy makers, experts, key officials, community leaders, teachers and law enforcement together to share progress made and generate new ideas to help prevent the victimization of children."

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