AIBU?
To think there are probably more attempted abductions of kids than we think?
GoldRhino · 04/05/2021 21:36
My aim in this thread is to spread awareness- apologies if it annoys anyone.
In the last few years we have had at least 4 attempted abductions of kids from local schools (‘naice area’). Our school sent out alerts to let everyone know. There were various men in vans attempting to grab kids and two children that we know well narrowly escaped being dragged into a car just around the corner from our house last year and were really traumatised.
Then earlier today I saw the headline about the Line of Duty actresses’ son who nearly got abducted yesterday in Beckenham. He was 11 and walking home from school.
All of these events have made me very concerned about letting my kids walk home alone.
I’m also wondering why these attempted abductions don’t get more press attention so that others are more aware.
Am I being unreasonable?
AIBUYou have one vote. All votes are anonymous.
BelleBlueBell · 04/05/2021 21:52
The recent case in London is obviously very concerning but in general I think true random abduction attempts on children are pretty rare.
During my DCs time at school there have been a few occasions of warnings about possible approaches to children but they have subsequently turned out to be genuine misinterpretations of innocent situations.
Echobelly · 04/05/2021 22:20
As far as I can tell they are staggeringly rare, it's not something I worry about at all, as other risks are much more likely.
I do have a suspicion (not saying this is the case with you OP) that in some cases 'attempted abductions' that people 'hear about' from a friend or neighbour are wild exaggerations of something totally innocuous.
KrisAkabusi · 04/05/2021 22:20
I think the opposite. There have been loads of warnings in our area over the last two years, none of which turned out to be true. As somebody said above, there were innocent explanations, misread situations, or just hoaxes. Yes, teach your kids to be careful, but don't teach them to be scared of events that are actually incredibly rare.
Postern · 04/05/2021 22:55
@KrisAkabusi
I agree. Social media just fuels ill-founded hysteria.
OverTheRubicon · 05/05/2021 07:13
I completely disagree. When a child abduction is 'successful' (that feels like the wrong word), it gets massive publicity. However we also hear constantly of attempted abductions on local Facebook and Nextdoor groups, where grown men are apparently outrun or outfought by a young child. Speaking as someone who has been abused and done martial arts, even a strong adult women generally struggles to escape the grapple of an adult man.
I absolutely believe there are a ton of pervs, flashers, creepy teachers, abusive family members and more out there. However these constant reported abduction attempts are very dangerous if (as I suspect) many are made up by children or adults, because they make parents limit children's freedom and also blind us to the far higher risks closer to home.
newnortherner111 · 05/05/2021 07:17
Probably a lot more than we ever get to hear about, because local news and indeed the number of stories on national news programmes seems to have become fewer, not just in the pandemic. Local newspapers are almost becoming a thing of the past, and in London if wfh continues I am sure readership of the London Evening Standard will remain low.
As for the police response, perhaps if numbers in the Met had not been reduced and neighbourhood policing especially a lot less than in the noughties, more men who attempt this would either not try or would be caught.
Feedex · 05/05/2021 07:22
The police have to put out a warning, but no, I don’t believe that all these men in vans are trying to snatch children. The London incident was different, and there’s maybe something to it, his mum is an actress in the most watched tv show in a long time though. Might have been to do either that?
I think SM, misread situations, and attn seeking parents have a lot to do with all these attempted ‘abductions’.
Kids are being abused though, on a terrible
Scale, by fathers, brothers, friends of family, adults in positions of trust like coaches all the time though.
romdowa · 05/05/2021 07:23
As children we had two near abductions in our estate, I stopped one, I was older than the two girls and came around a corner to a strange woman offering the two kids sweets to get in the car and the other one was a couple offering my brother and his friend money to get in the car and they also took pictures of them. Thankfully my brothers friend starting screaming and they drove off. The police found the couple in another estate and their camera was taken , the woman was never found. So I definitely think it's something that happens more than we hear
lightand · 05/05/2021 07:24
I live rurally and I used to let the kids go on their bikes all over the place within a 5 mile radius, after they were aged about 10, occasionally with friends. Nothing ever happened.
One day however, I decided to go and meet them about 3 miles away. I was shocked. I had naively thought they would be ok because there was always at least 2 of them on their bikes together. Plus thought, wrongly, that there were just enough cars around to "keep them safe". But there wasnt. I realised that they could have got abducted quite easily and no one would probably have seen anything at all.
After that, if they wanted to go off, I used to follow in the car at a distance.
3scape · 05/05/2021 07:28
I think YABU. I was once the subject of an attempted abduction, I wasn't given any secret tips to repell determined aggressors. But what can you teach? other than teaching children to be sensible enough not to willingly get into vehicles with strangers. To keep back on the pavement and maybe these days to get the phone out to help with any "question". These incidents are still vanishingly rare, children are still more likely to run away or be taken by family members. I think it's possible to give children too much anxiety.
SushiGo · 05/05/2021 07:29
@GoldRhino
The police sending a warning doesn't mean its true. It means, at the point they sent the warning, they thought it might be true.
There are very regular cases where these warnings turn out to be based on false stories. There was one recently in the press where an influencer claimed a couple were trying to kidnap her child in a supermarket but it turned out she was just a massive racist.
Cheekyweegobshite · 05/05/2021 07:32
We had a couple of attempted abductions a few years ago. The police and school put warnings on social media but it was eventually revealed that the kids had made it up.
We know that successful abductions by a stranger are very rare, so unless abductors are generally incompetent I think it's reasonable to assume that attempted ones are also pretty rare.
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