Jules71
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I, like many others here, am going all over the spectrum on Kyron's disappearance. But this post reminded me of something and it ties into how scary it is to me that I don't think it's difficult for a child to disappear in many, many scenarios, be that playing outside in their own yard, being in school, a mall, a store, riding a bike, etc.
Makes me very scared as a parent, b/c reality is, no matter how much you protect your children, there is alway some vulnerability, and they cannot be 100% protected 100% of the time (that said, I shudder to think of schools as not safe havens).
I haven't thought of this in years, but this post made me think of it, and also makes me think about how the type of child you are really does contribute to your vulnerability. When I was young, maybe 8-10??, I could ride my bike around the blocks of our neighborhood. Only one of these blocks was a busier street, with a sidewalk. I was riding alone one day on this sidewalk, and a car stopped...a guy, maybe in his 20s, yelled asking me for directions to a street I knew. I stopped...the guy had nothing on from the waist down and was touching himself. I stammered, scared and completely uncomfortable, but I didn't take off! I tried to give him the stupid directions! Then finally, I managed "I don't know" and I took off on my bike.
My house was only around the corner so I was scared he was going to follow me, but he didn't. He did drive away.
I never told anyone about this then! But being the type of kid I was, I actually tried to help this guy before my fear got the better of me (I was a fearful kid, and I had older sisters who were very protective, and interestingly enough, John Walsh is originally from my hometown, so there was a fresh awareness of abduction).
So I really do feel like Kyron, with what we've been told about his personality, would help an adult, possibly even if he wasn't entirely comfortable with it.
Scary scary. When I was about 20 years old, I was waiting for the public bus to go to work, and 2 men in a car drove up and rolled down the window to ask me for directions. I was trying to give them direction (from a distance) and then the guy said - hey you have something in your hair and was reaching out to me like to come closer so he could get it out of my hair. I backed off and said NO THANKS - and when he left I asked another person at the bus stop if I had something in my hair and I did NOT. Who knows what could have happened if I walked closer to the car.
I have seen on tv programs where they teach children to if someone is trying to grab them to drop to the ground and kick and yell stranger stranger 911 over and over. They say it is more difficult for someone to grab someone and carry them off when they are on the ground and a legs distance away kicking. I don't know which is better though - to do that or to run. But I guess if they have a hold of you, to drop would be better than to stand and kick and scream. I don't know. Scary.