Kidnapping in Korea
One big difference I have noticed between the USA and Korea is the amount of freedom Korean children have in comparision to their U.S. counterparts. I see children everywhere walking to school by themselves, outside playing with other children, and taking the buses and subways without adults accompanying them.
The way Korean children live is a far cry from most American children, who usually only leave the home with an adult with them. Parents there are so paranoid about kidnapping and molesting that children have little freedom. Parents say things like "You have to watch your children all the time", "You can't turn your back for a second", and "Things aren't the same as when I was small, it's more dangerous now". Most American children live their lives inside, and leave the house when a parent is willing to drive them somewhere.
I have envied the Korean children for their ability to walk the streets without parental supervision. I envied their families for not having the constant worry about kidnapping.
I did realize that kidnapping is something that is rising in Korea. About 50 children are kidnapped every year. It's something that Koreans seem not to want to talk about. I have seen pictures of missing children in my mail when I get bills in the mail. There is a photo, the child's name, and some information on where the kid was last seen. I have noticed that some of those children have been missing for at least five years, some of them for at least ten. I asked other Koreans about the kidnapping trends and they say "maybe they just got lost", "we don't know how many go missing", and things like that. It shows that Korea likes to pretend it isn't a problem.
I do think that Korea wants to pretend that kidnapping isn't a problem because they don't like to look bad. They want to keep things appearing nice, so they don't want to talk about such tragic things. I think kidnapping is the worst thing that a parent can go through, most especially if the child isn't found for many years or at all. At least if the child dies and the parent can bury it there is some sort of closure, but if the child is missing for many years, there is no knowing what really happened.
In the United States, kidnapping is quite common, but the statistics show that the majority of children kidnapped in the U.S. are taken by people they know, not strangers. Actually, most kidnappings are done by non-custodial family members. Other kidnappings occur among acquaintances. The stereotypical kidnappings are more rare. Those taken by strangers are only just over 100 children a year.
Now when I come to think about it, if 50 children a year are kidnapped in South Korea where the population is 50 million, then a child has about a 1 in a million chance of being kidnapped. In the USA there are about 100 kidnappings of children to 300 million people. If the USA has only twice the amount of stranger kidnappings with six times the Korean population, then the statistics show that there is more of a likelihood of being kidnapped in Korea than in the USA. Yet, the Korean statistics don't say why these children were taken or who took them. I do wonder how many of them are taken abroad by overseas family members or who was sold into sexual slavery.
I do think that kidnapping is very sad, and I do wish that more things would be done about it. Yet I do think that the USA is too paranoid about it. If more people were outside, then it wouldn't be such a big deal to let children out alone. Unless it is an area with an extremely high crime rate like Los Angeles or Chicago, then I do think it's only too paranoid of parents these days to keep their children inside.
The way Korean children live is a far cry from most American children, who usually only leave the home with an adult with them. Parents there are so paranoid about kidnapping and molesting that children have little freedom. Parents say things like "You have to watch your children all the time", "You can't turn your back for a second", and "Things aren't the same as when I was small, it's more dangerous now". Most American children live their lives inside, and leave the house when a parent is willing to drive them somewhere.
I have envied the Korean children for their ability to walk the streets without parental supervision. I envied their families for not having the constant worry about kidnapping.
I did realize that kidnapping is something that is rising in Korea. About 50 children are kidnapped every year. It's something that Koreans seem not to want to talk about. I have seen pictures of missing children in my mail when I get bills in the mail. There is a photo, the child's name, and some information on where the kid was last seen. I have noticed that some of those children have been missing for at least five years, some of them for at least ten. I asked other Koreans about the kidnapping trends and they say "maybe they just got lost", "we don't know how many go missing", and things like that. It shows that Korea likes to pretend it isn't a problem.
I do think that Korea wants to pretend that kidnapping isn't a problem because they don't like to look bad. They want to keep things appearing nice, so they don't want to talk about such tragic things. I think kidnapping is the worst thing that a parent can go through, most especially if the child isn't found for many years or at all. At least if the child dies and the parent can bury it there is some sort of closure, but if the child is missing for many years, there is no knowing what really happened.
In the United States, kidnapping is quite common, but the statistics show that the majority of children kidnapped in the U.S. are taken by people they know, not strangers. Actually, most kidnappings are done by non-custodial family members. Other kidnappings occur among acquaintances. The stereotypical kidnappings are more rare. Those taken by strangers are only just over 100 children a year.
Now when I come to think about it, if 50 children a year are kidnapped in South Korea where the population is 50 million, then a child has about a 1 in a million chance of being kidnapped. In the USA there are about 100 kidnappings of children to 300 million people. If the USA has only twice the amount of stranger kidnappings with six times the Korean population, then the statistics show that there is more of a likelihood of being kidnapped in Korea than in the USA. Yet, the Korean statistics don't say why these children were taken or who took them. I do wonder how many of them are taken abroad by overseas family members or who was sold into sexual slavery.
I do think that kidnapping is very sad, and I do wish that more things would be done about it. Yet I do think that the USA is too paranoid about it. If more people were outside, then it wouldn't be such a big deal to let children out alone. Unless it is an area with an extremely high crime rate like Los Angeles or Chicago, then I do think it's only too paranoid of parents these days to keep their children inside.
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