Idea - you're opinions please!!

[monkeytrousers]

I had an idea about the sequence of events that occurs when a child gets lots/goes missing/

The police are called and the local news announces it on their bulletins.

Why not have a public emergency address system, attached to each telegraph pole say?

Pros

It's immediate

It enables the community directly and

asks people to be directly responsible

Thousands of eyes are better than a few dozen policemen

It might have saved Jamie Bulger

It will be an immediate deterrant to abducters.

Cons

It might panic the abducter

It may put a lost child at risk from an opportunist abductor (but the majority of people are not abductors and will still be looking also, thedeterrent is still in place)

Anyone think of anymore pros and cons?

Cost is an obvious "con".

After the novelty had worn off and a few false alarms had happened it might well be ignored - does anyone react to burglar alarms?

The police would control all bulletins though, they'd have to. People don't ignore police/ambulance sirens and they happen all the time.

And I think all parents certainly would take it seriously. Even if it meant going outdoors for a moment and checking the street or field out back..

Sorry, I didn't see cost.

It would be so cheap to implement! And I would pay a fraction of a penny in extra tax to pay for it.

i thought they were going to do this anyway, don't they do it in the US? signs on motorways etc

It would make us think we were living in the land of Big Brother?

Seriously, kids barely ever get abducted, and when they do, it's generally by estranged family.

I don't know southeastra.

The obvious problem with signs on motorways is that people are using their eyes to drive with and are berated with signs all the time. Also you can't stop and check the motorway.

This would ask people to go out and check their street, their garden, the railway track out back. To stay vigilant in their communities, but every community would be notified.

i am sure i saw, or listened to a radio programme about it - it's a good idea

we are already living in big brother land, there are so many cctv cameras around here already!

I know it's rare, but this is for such emergencies. That's not really an argument against it. And if it only worked once, surely it would be worth it?

Big brother? No one is watching you, just asking you to be pro-active in your community.

I think it would be as positive step simply in that sense.

Sorry, don't get the idea I'm arguing with anyone - I'm just contesting the pros and cons and my brain is working overtime

I am not sure you can justify the cost, seeing as this is such a rare occurence, as NQC says. It's not something I would want my money to be going on. I'd rather see something done to help the many many children living in poverty, for example.

No, argue away, mt

We all enjoy a good debate

i am sure some members of the community would volunteer in such circumstances to help-people often feel useless in these situations. great idea i wonder why it fizzled out really

I think it would have to be vocal too, and invasive as in it would interrupt you.

I agree it would be rare but again feel that works to its benefit.

Really F&Z? You would resent the cost? I can't imagine why it would be costly at all in reletive terms.

And of course if it were your child the cost wouldn't be an issue.

That's what I mean about improving community relations as well though, and collective responsibility.

Rather than mi casa, su casa, it's mi bambimo, su bambino?

I would also worry that once the system was in place, then what else could it be used for?

Can't you just imagine adverts being placed on it, for example? That would raise revenue, wouldn't it, which could be used to search for more lost children

Agree it is all very 1984.

Sadly, mt people do ignore police/ambulance sirens, and would probably ignore these too, in some places.

These things are never as inexpensive and simple as they initially sound, and I too would think there are other things the resources could be used for.

I think it's worth investigating before it's dismissed.

And it wouldn't be commercial, it would be an emergency relay system. There's no need for this to be a slippery slope.

And Jasnem some people ignore traffic lights too but we still all realise the importance of having them. Some people won't do anything, and they won't be forced to. But some people WILL.

I think the benefits outweigh the costs. In every sense.

Maybe we can do a poll after we've discussed it just to get a feel of general opinion over the boards??

If we can garner enough support maybe we can approach some of our councils to do a trial, to establish cost and impact?

What do we have to loose?

MT your ideas are usually good but this is terrible

The main reason it is terrible - apart from practical reasons i.e. cost, maintenance cost - is that it enforces the idea that children are "at risk" all the time - and that is EXTREMELY DAMAGING to children. What, exactly, would this prevent?

How would it prevent the James Bulger killing? So, you know that a three year old is missing, you would look for a wandering, distressed three-year old. You wouldn't look for a little boy holding hands with two other children.

And in the extremely unlikely circumstances that a child WAS with the 'wrong' adult, how would you know? He isn't likely to be screaming "Help help kidnap!" is he? How many times do you see children crying and struggling with adults in town?

And if you DID see a wandering three year-old, and you knew he was missing, would you DARE approach him - particularly if you were a man - at the risk that people would think you were an opportunist kidnapper?!

There are lots of ways we can spend money to protect children - teaching them their name and address would be a start - but assuming that there is danger on every corner is doing us all more harm than good.

But it's not like the blue lamp - a permanent symbol on show of children's vulnerability.

I don't want to get into the Bulger thing too much but the little boy was witnessed to be in distress as he was being 'walked'. I can't bare to think about it actually.

And this would be for those rare occurrences. PAS are used in shopping malls when kids are lost already.

MP

I was at a beach recently and I thought - when I was a child, there would be a "Lost children" booth at the beach, but we don't have this any more, because we never let our children GET lost on the beach, do we?

I agree with morningpaper that this is a very bad idea. I don't like the emotive argument that cost should not be taken into account - resources are finite in the real world and their use needs to be prioritised. Giving the impression that children are at risk at all time is not only damaging to children, it also makes life harder for us parents. After all, many children screaming at an adult around the shops are actually throwing a wobbly at a parent for refusing to buy them something.

But, morningpaper, you will be pleased to know children still do get lost on the beach and there are still places for them to go - visit Littlehampton and see for yourself!

Almost all the children who are in danger Right Now are in danger from their parents. Or from poverty. Or from dirty air. Not strangers.

The mad emphasis on Stranger Danger is strange and deluded.

(Oh, and mp said everything I would have said, only better.)