Dymitri Harszeski
Blog #1660
Jan. 23, 2023
The Parent Test (Addendum):
Still No Abductions!
How many kidnappings do you hear about each year? Two? Three? Maybe ten if you're addicted to true-crime TV?
After finishing my second Parent Test post last week, I realized I'd forgotten to mention that our host/expert, Doctor Adolph Brown, had weighed in on how important the Stranger Danger Challenge was, especially important because the threat of child abduction is "very real," citing a statistic that "2,300 kids go missing each day in America." Two-thousand three-hundred. Every day.
That seems shockingly high, right? And we SHOULD be shocked.
At least if we assume, as he clearly intends us to, that the 339,500 children "gone missing" each year were kidnapped because that figure isn't even remotely close to being accurate.
Let's be clear: the term "gone missing" is mealy-mouthed meaninglessness deliberately chosen to frighten gullible parents and nothing more. Ol' Adolph appears to state how often people under 18 are reported missing ("child" having been down-defined by crusader propaganda to include even teenagers who are well past childhood). It's a quote that includes legions of 17-year-olds who ran off with friends for a day or two or ten, along with countless other adolescents who've aggrieved the ancientry to the point of unnecessary police involvement. It includes absent-minded middle schoolers failing to report their intent to stay overnight at a neighbor's house, as well as some preteens whose neurotic helicopter parents call for SWAT teams whenever their precious dolls shuffle in three hours late after missing their school bus.
Without question, Dr. Brown's figure includes every instance of a divorced parent taking little Aiden or Ashley without asking and even times when they're clearly entitled to but a psychiatric ex-spouse blows a gasket anyway. These are not events that sane people would call abductions, and even when non-custodial parents really do abscond with their offspring, that's still a far cry form what "stranger danger" drills are invoking.
Nevertheless, that is exactly what this ridiculous show featured: a "test" to see if kids would open the door to strangers (and their parents' bug-eyed horror when they did), all purportedly justified by the "2,300 missing kids" per day. It was a cynical manipulation of facts, grossly misleading, and... well, really, just gross.
The threat of stranger abduction is not "very real," it's virtually nonexistent. Shame on this show for unapologetically promoting parental paranoia. We owe our future so much more than just generations of people trained to be terrified of boogiemen and their own shadows, trained to be terrified of each other.
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Replies (12)
Why on earth are you offering parental advice? Stranger abduction is real, you should know, that’s what you did. 350 victims and counting.
The Mule Creek mailroom needs to monitor your mail. Don’t worry, I already called them and told them about these posts of yours. I told the tip line of the L A times too.
Still a predator, grooming from your cage.
Tell me. I seriously want to know, how do we stop people like you?
How do we stop people like you?
How do we protect our kids and grand kids from predators? I have seven grandsons all under ten, what do I tell them?
Seriously, what do I tell them. About people like you.
Tenzin
As you seem to have chosen to actually not be vigilant, just a self appointed vigilante, could you perhaps concentrate on something more worthwhile, elsewhere, like the 6000 children shot killed or injured by guns in the USA in 2022.
That is something worthwhile to focus on, (and a clue- the solution is not to arm the 5-10 year olds, which i suspect you might consider judging by your reaction above).
Dymitri makes a salient point regarding the farcical nature of statistics, he could equally be talking about the minority nature of so called modern democracy, whereby vocal minorities capture agenda's and impose their will on the majority, simply by manipulating statistics, or channels of engagement.I see no sign of grooming as you luridly make claim, and as i find his limited channel of expression often thought provoking i rather hope you toddle off and find a different kindergarten sandbox to play in, one more suited to your cerebral talents.
Indeed the British do, but generally its a cheap shot that follows, rather than adherence to the Wildean famous punchline, but then again Wilde had a predilection for under age dalliances so maybe best not to invoke arguably his most memorable quotation.
Your question asked, somewhat unfairly, i thought, and directed at a person incarcerated, made it rhetorical.
I referred to you as a vigilante rather than vigilant, and your rather superficial question does not lead me away from that supposition.
Well over 90% of so-called sexual abuse is within family structures or trusted individuals, which suggests you'll need to keep a close eye on your brothers and sisters cousins etc, rather than worry too much about the wider landscape.
Consulting any LEA statistics you care to look up you'll find that more than 80% of so-called CSAM is self generated..... again indicating that the home and parenting failure is the problem not the wider landscape.
You actually want to safeguard your children from an imagined predatory landscape, you'll need to ban (anti) social media, ban sexual, LGBTQ, and relationship teaching from primary school level, reintroduce chaperoning, and clutch your pearls tightly (as a British person you'll be aware of that phrase).
Alternatively, perhaps if societies stopped treating everyone as a victim of something, there might be a conversation to be had around personal responsibility, Age of Consent, and a statute of limitations for historic crime. Societies continue to infantalize their citizens, whilst constantly expanding the definition of sexual abuse, and push the age of childhood into their late teens or early to mid 20s,whilst ignoring biological puberty arriving earlier than ever.
Now to my real world experience - I had my first relationship that would these days be classified as sexual in primary school..... as did many others of my generation. I lost my virginity before i was a teenager, and had what would be deemed a criminal relationship with a much older person for a few years. At no time did it occur to me to wander down to a police station and turn either myself in or that person, (I have never needed the state to take charge of my life thinking it knows best). It also did not mess up my life in any way at all. Many years later i discussed it all calmly with my parents, got on with my life and became as successful as i wanted to be. No hangups, no victim hood, just a life lived vicariously from start to now. As a prison visitor over many years i was fortunate enough to form a good rapport with a senior guard who over an ale said, "the only difference between me and the people i guard, is that i haven't been caught yet." He was alluding to the fact that we are all criminals in some way, minor or major, based on ever increasing layers of law. The hysteria of today is a far cry from earlier times, and achieves nothing, save more hysterical responses.