Caution better than losing another child

We’re not living in Mayberry any more.

Recent news stories and incidents prove that point. Little Hailey Owens in Springfield, Mo., is kidnapped in front of neighbors who tried to rescue her, but couldn’t. Later, the 10-year-old was found dead in a suspect’s house. In the last week, we’ve had two incidents, at Gassville and Norfork, in which a creeper reportedly tried to act with ill intent against girls. While there apparently have been no official reports of the latter two incidents, the public is aware and wary.

These incidents are too close to home for comfort. After all, we don’t live in a big city where such things are commonplace; at least that’s the perception we have. Children are supposed to be able to safely play outside, walk from their home to a neighbor’s house, go to a corner store and even go from one part of a store to another part unaccompanied by a parent.

That’s how it’s supposed to be. For those of us of a certain generation, that’s how it was. We didn’t hear of children being snatched off the street or simply vanishing. We’d go out to play and make sure our moms had at least a general idea of where we’d be, although for many of us —especially we who lived in the country —it wouldn’t be unusual for our parents to not have any idea where we were until we got home. Today that probably would result in accusations of negligence against a parent.

After what happened in Springfield and the impact it had on the region, it’s to be expected people will be a bit more cautious, maybe even overly cautious. But, look around us. Hardly a day goes by without an Amber alert or missing child notice posted on Facebook and other social media. Even if it’s not local, folks have an increased awareness of such incidents today and share notices across the country. Maybe there is a bit of overreaction sometimes, too, but it’s still better to err on the side of caution than to lose another child.