7 y.o. girl fights off kidnapper in Walmart. (classes, safety, school)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Fifteen-year-old kids get kidnapped. Should they be constantly watched, too? You give your children varying levels of independence as they age so they can become fully independent adults.
A 15yr old is a lot stronger and bigger than a 7yr old. Many of them are already full grown.
A child is going to have a harder time fighting back from an adult.
I had a friend in college whose nephew was taken from a store. Thankfully the sister(the mom) made quite a scene in the store and shouted out my son has been taken. Instead of concentrating on looking in the store, store employees and customers went out in the parking lot.
The boy was 5 or 6ys old, so not much different from this girl.
A couple had taken him. In a matter of minutes they had changed his clothes and cut his hair. The group held them until the police arrived.
That was over 25 yrs ago. You think society has gotten better?
I asked my 8yo dd today what she would do. She said scream FIRE. (This is advice that I was given by a police officer who says that people are unlikely to get involved in what they think is a domestic dispute.) Then she said; bite, kick, punch, scream. She then added something I had never told her. The best place to punch is on the bridge of the nose. Go, baby!
That's what my son said he'd do, scream fire. But then, he said he'd kick the guy, in the you know where.
A 15yr old is a lot stronger and bigger than a 7yr old. Many of them are already full grown.
A child is going to have a harder time fighting back from an adult.
I had a friend in college whose nephew was taken from a store. Thankfully the sister(the mom) made quite a scene in the store and shouted out my son has been taken. Instead of concentrating on looking in the store, store employees and customers went out in the parking lot.
The boy was 5 or 6ys old, so not much different from this girl.
A couple had taken him. In a matter of minutes they had changed his clothes and cut his hair. The group held them until the police arrived.
That was over 25 yrs ago. You think society has gotten better?
So? At what point can you leave your child alone these days? What is that magical number where all of a sudden your child can fight the attacker? Not every fifteen-year-old is physically very big. Should that kid not be left alone? By the way, there is a very big developmental difference between five and seven.
Parents get sooooo much grief over everything they do, why add to it. Not enough watching, too much watching, not the right kind of watching. etc. etc. etc. It needs a rest already.
Last edited by JustJulia; 02-10-2012 at 10:42 PM..
Reason: Removed reference to deleted comment
So you gave your 7 year old child enough independence to walk out of your supervision, in a store full of people, with some people who may or may not be looking to kidnap a child who looks like his parents aren't around?
I'm sorry, but there's no way in hell I would let my child out of my sight in the middle of a damn store!
Last edited by JustJulia; 02-10-2012 at 10:42 PM..
Reason: Removed reference to deleted comment
Sorry, you don't let a 7yr old wander away from you. Doesn't matter if it is one aisle or 10 aisles.
Haven't we learned anything from Adam Walsh and Sears store in Hollywood, FL in 1980?
Yes, there is really no excuse for that -- taking a kid to Walmart and letting her play in the toy aisle while you immerse yourself in your shopping is not responsible.
At home it's a little different if a 7 year old is playing in the yard, or over at a neighbor child's house. Often families have dogs that are out playing with the kids and offer some protection, plus strangers can stick out in many neighborhoods but in a store like Walmart, a stranger can easily select a child, follow the child around and not be noticed.
If there were all kinds of strangers lurking around in your yard, it's not likely you'd send your child out alone to play amongst them even in your yard, so it makes no more sense to take the child to Walmart and let her play amongst strangers there.
If you can't be bothered to keep an eye on your kid when you're out shopping then the child would actually be safer staying at home alone -- where you don't generally have hundreds of strangers which ups the chances of some freak being there.
I can't believe I come back here and people are still blaming the mom. Wow. Maybe I read a different story than a lot of you, but the one I read said he was stalking her through the store and waiting for an opportunity. He could have followed them out to the parking lot and grabbed her then while mom was loading the car.
Someone in this thread posted about kids being dropped off at the store with no supervision. Amazingly they made it home.
I remember the Adam Walsh story. Who doesn't? How many millions of kids go to the store every day without being kidnapped? Walk home from school, walk to a friend's house, go to soccer practice, or any other number of things that kids do every day.
I don't live in a world where the SECOND you take your eyes off of your child, they are kidnapped. I know that there is a very tiny chance of that happening, but the chances of us getting through another day unscathed are much higher.
I am raising my child to grow up and go out into this scary world some day. I am teaching her how to live in this world. Some of those teachings include looking out for danger and protecting herself in whatever way she can. Part of this is letting her take small steps of independence. Going to Kindergarten, walking through the school to get to her class, playing in the park with me sitting nearby, but not holding her hand the entire time, going a couple of aisles over in a store, and every other tiny milestone you can think of. It is my job to make sure she is ready for those little bits of independence and to judge when she is ready for each step.
Obviously, the girl in this story had been taught how to take care of herself and her mom thought she was ready for this amount of independence.
Lets not forget that if this was a common occurrence, it wouldn't have made the news. This was a RARE thing even though according to a lot of people, some kids have virtually no supervision.
Btw... This is coming from the mother of a 7 year old girl.
I can't believe I come back here and people are still blaming the mom. Wow. Maybe I read a different story than a lot of you, but the one I read said he was stalking her through the store and waiting for an opportunity. He could have followed them out to the parking lot and grabbed her then while mom was loading the car.
Some of these posters are fracking stupid. When it comes to raising kids anyone who said "I will NEVER.." is lying or a straight up fool.
I can't believe I come back here and people are still blaming the mom. Wow. Maybe I read a different story than a lot of you, but the one I read said he was stalking her through the store and waiting for an opportunity. He could have followed them out to the parking lot and grabbed her then while mom was loading the car.
Someone in this thread posted about kids being dropped off at the store with no supervision. Amazingly they made it home.
I remember the Adam Walsh story. Who doesn't? How many millions of kids go to the store every day without being kidnapped? Walk home from school, walk to a friend's house, go to soccer practice, or any other number of things that kids do every day.
I don't live in a world where the SECOND you take your eyes off of your child, they are kidnapped. I know that there is a very tiny chance of that happening, but the chances of us getting through another day unscathed are much higher.
I am raising my child to grow up and go out into this scary world some day. I am teaching her how to live in this world. Some of those teachings include looking out for danger and protecting herself in whatever way she can. Part of this is letting her take small steps of independence. Going to Kindergarten, walking through the school to get to her class, playing in the park with me sitting nearby, but not holding her hand the entire time, going a couple of aisles over in a store, and every other tiny milestone you can think of. It is my job to make sure she is ready for those little bits of independence and to judge when she is ready for each step.
Obviously, the girl in this story had been taught how to take care of herself and her mom thought she was ready for this amount of independence.
Lets not forget that if this was a common occurrence, it wouldn't have made the news. This was a RARE thing even though according to a lot of people, some kids have virtually no supervision.
Btw... This is coming from the mother of a 7 year old girl.
You said he was stalking her in the store and waiting for an opportunity.
And why to you think that happened and why do you think he selected her?
If you bother to read up on criminals and child molesters or have seen them interiewed on TV they go after certian people/children for a reason.
He saw a 7yr old girl who was out of the sight of an adult for a period of time. He most likely saw other children but passed on them as a parent was in close proximity.
So it's highly unlikely he would have grabbed her out in the parking lot with her mother right there, he was looking for a child who was not being superivised and he found one.
The good news is the girl fought him off, but the whole situation could have been avoided.
The girl is phyiscally safe, but what will be her emotional state going forward?
You're in Florida. The land of child molesters. It is shocking as to how many there are here.
I currently live in FL and am shocked at the number of kids drowning in pools, deadly teen car crashes, yet everything is labeled a "tragic accident". Very few people ever discuss why the four teens that were killed in a car crash going 100mph at 4am were doing out at that hour.
They lay flowers down on the side of the road, have counselors standing by at the high school, but NEVER have I heard anyone address the issue of reckless teen driving in FL. Or talk of raising the driving age, or limiting the number of passengers a teen can have in a car like other states do.
Then come the "perfect parent" comments. When people question negligent behavior.
I have only been in Walmarts twice(not my cup of tea) but they're HUGE.
This creep knew exactly what he was doing, and he also knew who to target.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
She then added something I had never told her. The best place to punch is on the bridge of the nose. Go, baby!
