On the morning news, another story of a missing girl beams across the headlines, as the nation rallies together to find one little girl. But I can't help but think about all the other people who go missing every day: children, mothers, brothers, uncles, fathers. What about them? I can't imagine anything worse than losing one of your relatives or friends, and just not knowing where they were, or if they were safe. Missing Kids UK reveals the shocking fact that "In the UK, a child goes missing every 3 minutes." Every 3 minutes.That's shocking.
In situations like these the power of the media becomes devastatingly clear: one image donated by desperate parents becomes an icon of the search mission, the investigation. But what it really represents is a missing life.
But one has to ask why we recognize the image of April Jones or Madeline McCann before any other of the hundreds, maybe even thousands, of missing children in the UK. Obviously, the media can't cover every single missing persons case, but it is just so sad that while that one image may be an icon for all missing children everywhere, it only lasts a week. Or two if they're lucky. Why is it that so many people can go missing without a trace, and that their story doesn't ever reach a national audience? Do the children worthy of national coverage always have to be pretty, young, female and white?
April Jones Hotline: 0300 2000 333.
http://www.missingkids.co.uk/
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