What I am about to say is probably going to piss people off. Frankly, I don't care. Today I was walking back from the grocery store and I heard a mother tell her child that if he didn't stay by her side, he was going to get kidnapped like "those girls out West." The kid burst into hysterical tears.

I am really getting pissed off with all of the abducted children stories in the news today. The media is treating this as if it is a major epidemic in our nation today. This is not the case at all. People (not just children) are being kidnapped all over the country and a large majority of them are not covered as extensively in the media. Yes, it is a truly horrible and truly tragic thing to happen to a family to hav their child kidnapped. Some are found safe and sound (if not a little traumatized) and some are not going to be so lucky.

Do not get me wrong here. I am all for the media getting involved in helping find missing people but the way it is being treated in the media, I believe, is misrepresenting the true statisics of this crime. It is reminiscent (for me at least) of the numerous shark attacks that made media waves not too many years ago. When people looked at the statistics, it was revealed that in fact that shark attacks were on the decline for the year in question. I think the media is treating this as if it is a national epidemic that is sweeping the country and courting virtually every missing child related story with increased vigor.

Yes, kidnappings happen. Yes, the media has every right to publicize whatever information they can in order to help bring back these children safely. Yes, they can bring about awareness to help parents better protect their children. But they should not be allow to instill fear in families and force them to totally alter their lives. Yes, we should be more cautious and take that extra step. If anything, these kidnappings have forced us to take a second, extra step in order to ensure safety. However, it should not be used as a tool for parents to scare their children into doing things. Talk to your children, warn your children, and always have a second set of eyes in the back of your head to remind you to look after them. But using this as a tool to scare your children....just wrong....