It is this reporter’s opinion that we, the most productive nation in the history of the world, have had a tendency to shortchange two key groups of our society.
Too often we overlook the accomplishments of our senior citizens who tilled the soil, built the cities, and fought the wars to make us a strong and productive nation.
We overlook their abundance of wisdom and know-how. And then, there is the dark world of missing and exploited children that needs our attention.
A recent study by Steve Dreben, a graduate of the University of Illinois honored with a host of awards and author of screenplays, children’s books, and “Compromised Positions,” published by Authorhouse, spotlights this disturbing trend.
Dreben has taken a look at our children in his most recent novel, “The Murder of Kaelin,” published by Entryway. In the book, he offers some staggering numbers reported by the FBI’s National Crime Information Center (NCIC):
A child goes missing every 40 seconds (over 2,100 children per day).
More than 800,000 children are reported missing each year.
Another 500,000 of our youth go missing without ever being reported.
Since 1982, the country has experienced a 444 percent increase in missing children.
Dreben takes a shocking and driven look at child abductions with revealing statistics on missing and exploited children.
His is a wake up call as to how prevalent this tragedy is, and how easy it is to miss the signs.
He points the finger at all of us, and particularly those that take advantage of their powerful positions to lead a vulnerable young person in the wrong direction.
Currently, there are numerous proposed pieces of legislation dealing with missing and exploited children.
Jamiel’s Law, if adopted, would permit the police to arrest gang members for breaking U.S. immigration laws. It would supersede “Special Order 40,” a Los Angeles policy that bars officers from arresting or questioning those suspected of being in our country illegally, those who might kidnap kids and sell them into sexual slavery. Many children are taken out of the country and never seen again.
This proposed legislation, along with the federally adopted Adam Walsh Child Protection and Safety Act of 2006 and the Amber Alert Program, and others, are taking serious note of a growing problem in America.
The facts are eye opening, educational, and shocking. It is time we publish the appallingly large numbers of exploited and missing kids in the United States in an effort to draw attention to the growing problem of runaways and teenagers who are forced prostitution.
He outlines what we need to do to protect our vulnerable young people from worldwide predators.
It is time, America, to use our public power, our religion, to do battle with such abuse. Our friend, Steve Dreben, is to be highly commended on his study of tens of thousands of young runaways and missing teens whose fates are never known — those who disappear into the darkness and are never heard from again.
Aside from being a writer, Dreben is a businessman and horticulturist and works primarily in the financial industry. He is a family man with three children, two of them college graduates and one in high school.
He is doing his bit to help the children. What about us?
It is time to speak up for our children.
Dreben reminds us of the good words from the Bible, “Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven.”
Now is the time to act.
This is one reporter’s opinion. We welcome yours.
Listen to George Putnam at www.CRNTALK.com.
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