You’re more likely to be struck by a meteor than to have your kid abducted by a stranger
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) gets about $40 million a year in federal funding. It spends at least a few of those bucks crafting unnecessary emails like the one I got last week with the subject line: “Are your kids safely back-to-schooling?”
Not only is “back-to-schooling” not a verb, but also the question seems geared less toward making kids safe and more toward making parents terrified to ever let their kids leave the house.
Dear Lenore, the letter begins:
Routine bus stops, children biking or walking to school, and after-school pick-ups by parents are back all over America as we embark on another year of learning.
“While we are all excited for the year ahead, it is important to keep in mind one of the most important statistics we at the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) know all too well—that attempted abductions occur more often when a child is going to or from school or school-related activities.”
But why are we talking about attempted abductions at all? I get that kidnapping is NCMEC’s calling card, but if we’re really concerned about keeping kids safe on the way to school, why focus on the least likely of all dangers? Why not talk about pedestrian safety? Or the danger of driving the kids to school? After all, about 1,000 kids under age 14 die as car passengers each year.
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I’m glad that Lenore pointed it out.
Agreed, NCMEC thrives on fear. Imagine the outrage at an organization that receives taxpayer dollars preaching about the impending doom of stray meteors. And yet, their fears are more likely than NCMEC’s nonsense.