Child Maltreatment
FAQ 
Menstuff® has compiled the following Frequently Asked
Questoins concerning Child Maltreatment. Definitions
12:47
Frequently Asked Questions
The Big Secret - Child
Maltreatment
How many missing children are
there?
Where did the child abduction statistics in
the Personal Safety for Children: A Guide for Parents publication
come from?
What can I do to prevent parental
abduction?
Aren’t most missing kids a result of
custodial disagreements?
How many missing children are found
deceased?
What hours are most critical when trying to
locate a missing child?
How many children are sexually
approached and/or solicited online?
Isn’t the best advice I should give
to my kids “never talk to strangers”?
Do the cards I get in the mail really
help recover missing children?
Do you put pictures of missing kids on
milk cartons?
Is NCMEC John Walsh’s
organization?
How can I help find missing children?
How do I get copies of NCMEC
publications?
Please contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited
Children's (NCMEC) Office of Public Affairs by calling 877.44.NCMEC,
extension 6351, or 703.274.3900 if you have any questions about the
following information. Download a free copy of the Adobe Acrobat
Reader at www.cybertipline.com
How many missing children are there?
Answer: The best national estimates for the number of missing
children are from incidence studies conducted by the U.S. Department
of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency
Prevention. Two such studies have been completed, the first National
Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and Thrownaway
Children (NISMART 1) was released in 1990 and the second, known as
NISMART 2, was released in October of 2002.
According to NISMART 2, there are nearly 800,000 children reported
missing each year (more than 2,000 per day). 58,200 children are
abducted by nonfamily members. 115 children are the victims of the
most serious, most long-term abductions (stereotypical kidnappings),
of which 56% are recovered alive, 40% are killed. 203,900 children
are the victims of family abductions.
Top
Where did the child abduction statistics in
the Personal Safety for Children: A Guide For Parents publication
come from?
Answer: The child abduction statistics in the publication
entitled Personal Safety for Children: A Guide For Parents, released
in August of 2002 by President George Bush, are an excerpt of the
second National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway, and
Thrownaway Children: Highlights from the NISMART Bulletins, funded by
the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and
Delinquency Prevention.
Top
What can I do to prevent parental
abduction?
Answer: The most important thing you can do to prevent
abduction is to maintain healthy communication with your children and
spouse. NCMEC also recommends that you teach your child important
telephone numbers and where to go in case of an emergency.
Top
Aren’t most missing kids a result of
custodial disagreements?
Answer: The largest number of missing children are
“runaways”; followed by “family abductions”; then
“lost, injured, or otherwise missing children”; and
finally, the smallest category, but the one in which the child is at
greatest risk of injury or death, “nonfamily abductions.”
Many times this question is asked under the assumption that family
abductions are not a serious matter; however, this is not true. In
most cases children are told that the left-behind parent doesn’t
want or love them. These children may live the life of a fugitive,
always on the run with the noncustodial parent and stripped away from
their home, friends, school, and family.
Top
How many missing children are found
deceased? What hours are most critical when trying to locate a
missing child?
Answer: According to the State of Washington’s Office of
the Attorney General “the murder of a child who is abducted ...
is a rare event. There are estimated to be about 100 such incidents
in the United States each year, less than one-half of one percent of
the murders committed”; however, “74 percent of abducted
children who are murdered are dead within three hours of the
abduction.”
Top
How many children are sexually
approached and/or solicited online?
Answer: According to Highlights of the Youth Internet Safety
Survey conducted by the U.S. Department of Justice “one in five
children (10 to 17 years old) receive unwanted sexual solicitations
online.”
Top
Isn’t the best advice I should give
to my kids “never talk to strangers”?
Answer: Telling children to stay away from strangers is
neither effective nor the best advice for many reasons.
“Stranger” isn’t a concept children easily understand.
Instead your child should be taught to look out for threatening
behaviors and situations.
Top
Do the cards I get in the mail really
help recover missing children?
Answer: Absolutely. One in six of the missing kids featured on
these cards and through the efforts of other NCMEC photo partners are
recovered as a direct result of the photograph. In fact, because of
the ADVO® mailing, NCMEC reaches up to 79 million homes weekly
with the photographs of missing children.
Top
Do you put pictures of missing kids on
milk cartons?
Answer: Although NCMEC itself does not post photographs of
missing children on milk cartons, NCMEC photo partners may do so.
There are more than 360 active corporate photo partners
nationwide.
Top
Is NCMEC John Walsh’s organization?
Answer: After the abduction and murder of their son, Adam, in
1981, John and Revé Walsh became effective advocates on behalf
of missing children’s issues. Mrs. Walsh serves on the NCMEC
Board of Directors and Mr. Walsh serves on the Board’s Chief
Executive Officers Council and National Advisory Board, and acts as
an NCMEC spokesperson when his schedule allows. Their hard work and
determination helped to create NCMEC which now serves as the national
clearinghouse for information on missing children and the prevention
of child victimization. Since 1984, NCMEC has worked with law
enforcement on more than 83,500 missing child cases, resulting in the
recovery of more than 66,800 children.
Top
How can I help find missing children?
Answer: The best way to help NCMEC is to take the time to look
at the photographs of missing children in the many venues, including
ADVO postcards, at Wal-Mart® stores, in federal buildings, and
report any information about those children to NCMEC’s toll-free
Hotline 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678). You can also help by keeping
up-to-date photographs of your own children. After all, one out of
six of the children featured in this Picture Them Home® campaign
has been recovered.
Top
How do I get copies of NCMEC
publications?
Answer: To obtain a list of or order NCMEC books and
brochures, please call the toll-free Hotline 1-800-THE-LOST
(1-800-843-5678) or visit the Publications area at www.cybertipline.com
Top
CyberTipline
Fact Sheet
* * *
Contact
Us | Disclaimer
| Privacy
Statement
Menstuff®
Directory
Menstuff® is a registered trademark of Gordon Clay
©1996-2023, Gordon Clay
