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Boy Lost in Woods Hid from Rescuing "Strangers"
Posted by wizeGurl
(8318 views)      [E-Mail link]
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[Terroir-ism] |
The ordeal of Brennan Hawkins, the 11-year-old boy lost in the woods for four days in Utah last week, provides an insight into some potential disadvantages of having one's behavior controlled by one's worst fear. Amid the general celebration at his homecoming, the Salt Lake Tribune reported: "His parents said he followed two family rules by staying on the trail and not talking to strangers. Brennan said he heard rescuers before he was discovered Tuesday, but hid, going into what his family calls "midget mode" by pulling his shirt over his knees. He told his family he had feared being abducted.
In other words, a primary reason that Brennan wasn't found earlier is that he was hiding from searchers. |
This casts a light on the fears we transmit to our children and the advice we give them. Because abduction of a child is the worst nightmare that parents can imagine and because when a child is taken by a stranger there is likely to be national news coverage of the event, most people have an exaggerated sense of how likely this is to happen. Of the approximately 50 million school-age children in this country, about 100 a year are abducted by strangers. To put this statistic in perspective, 3,400 children are killed each year in motor vehicle accidents; 3,000 die (one every four hours) by firearms. |
More thoughts on how our national obsession with expecting the worst affects our daily lives, even when nothing bad happens. |
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Common Sense
Posted by Nelson on 2005-07-13 15:18:41 | | Maybe they need to introduce "common sense" classes to childrens' schools? |
Don't you mean...
Posted by Darken on 2005-07-14 09:20:23 | | "UNcommon Sense"? |
some people make me sick
Posted by Samuel(LA) on 2005-07-25 01:30:37 | | I was born in the city. I live in the city. AND, I will always live in the BIG metropolitan city. Here, the rules and threats are real. I think rural people are so ridiculous with their restricted morals, values and beliefs. Never talk to strangers? HELLO? How is the kid going to make friends, learn new people, etc.... If the parents are really that paranoid, they should put the kid in sport camp so that he learns some good skills. They should FINE the parents and the child, it makes me sick they used our taxes for that case. |
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