Quote:
Originally posted by Koss28
I'm not sure if this has been mentioned before our but is it a new fad to start kidnapping kids and such? Everyday I open the paper, some kid was either kidnapped, kidnapped and killed or just killed. Like this morning, I was reading that in Abilene, TX, a lady's infant child was kidnapped right out of her van while she quickly returned a shopping cart at Walmart. Yesterday there was a story about a 4 year old child kidnapped. What the hell is going on these days???
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We are in the midst of what is known as a "moral panic." Is isn't an epidemic by any means...kids get kidnapped every day. The rate of kidnappings have not risen by any stretch of the imagination. However, the media coverage of kidnappings has risen dramatically. The same thing happened with the "crack epidemic" in 1986. Drug usage was actually
down that year, but you would never know, because EVERY media outlet was acting like crack was the end of the world as we know it.
I, too, am appalled by kidnappings, but it is nothing that doesn't happen every day. Because of this, the media can sensationalize it and blow it out of proportion.
While not diminishing the tragedy of anyone's child being kidnapped, I do not place much stock in media coverage. For one, the give a skewed version of reality. Close to 90% of kidnappings are committed by acquaintances of the family or family members, contrary to the new media coverage.
Another issue I have is the lack of coverage of minority kidnappings when compared to their white counterparts. The only minority girls that have been publicized have been the extrordinarily sensational cases.
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