Keeping Our Kids Safe

Last night, I fell into my couch in exhaustion. I reflected on our chaotic day, how tired I was and how much sleep I was NOT going to get that night. I sipped on some wine and turned on the television in an attempt to catch up on my favorite shows- Oprah was on.
The topic of the day was of Jaycee Dugard- the young 11 year old girl, kidnapped, held captive and abused for 18 years. Every time I read about this story, my blood boils- not only in sorrow for this young girl who had to endure years of unconscionable abuse, but also, for the mother/parents of Jaycee. I soon realized my frustrations for the night were so minuscule compared to those that this mother endured every night for those 18 years. I’m sure she would have given anything to go to bed exhausted from a day with her daughter and wake up though the night for feedings- at least she would know her daughter was alive and safe. Instead, her sleepless nights were probably consumed with prayers for her daughters’ return and wandering thoughts of where she was, who she’s with, was she alive, was she being cared for and God forbid, the worst thought of, was she being abused or hurt. As a mom, I imagine, her only wish every night was to comfort her daughter and hold her tightly.
I can’t bring myself to even imagine the thought of my daughter being kidnapped and taken from our lives. My life, as I know it, would be over. I would never be able to move past that day, and for the rest of my life I would be sick with worry about her 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. I can’t imagine that I would ever I find joy in anything. Thoughts of her safety, her happiness, her well-being would play like a broken record in my mind. I then thought about the other mom’s who had to endure or are still enduring this horrible anguish- Elizabeth Smith’s mother, Natalie Holloway’s mother, Madeline McCain’s mother and countless other mothers who have lost their children. The experiences these mothers have gone though ran the worst chills up my spine.
As I finished the Oprah show, I became more pessimistic of the world around us. How could someone be so evil as to shatter the futures of these kids and place such a shadow of despair over these families for the rest of their lives? How did several of these abductions happen at the childrens’ home or with parents close by? And how do we keep our children safe- knowing we can’t shelter them forever?
The next day I went to Target with Reagan. As we moved through the aisles, I saw several employees sifting through the store quickly. They all had walkie talkies and were chanting “code yellow”. I looked back and saw one mother frantically describing her daughter to one of the employees. My heart sunk. 5 minutes later one of the employees appeared with the girl and everyone let out a sigh of relief. I was amazed at the organization and swift action this team of employees took to find this child. They dropped everything and just short of locking down the store, they swept into action. My thoughts went back to Jaycee Dugard. There were so many missed opportunities to find this girl. Had authorities and others taken the same approach as these Target employees did to find this missing girl, I do believe Jaycee would have been home a lot earlier and maybe would not have been kidnapped from the start (this man should have never been released from jail).
Moral of my story- Unfortunately, we can’t shelter our kids forever. We can do our part to educate our children about safety and strangers, but I don’t think that is enough. I strongly believe Sex offenders and child predators need to face stronger sanctions and segregation from our children. And we need more people like these Target employees, who would not give up until a child was found- safe and sound.