Did you read this article from the Boston Globe?
The program’s champions say that its successes have been dramatic. According to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, more than 400 children have been saved by Amber Alerts. Of the 17 children Massachusetts has issued alerts on since it created its system in 2003, all have been safely returned.
These are encouraging statistics - but also deeply misleading, according to some of the only outside scholars to examine the system in depth. In the first independent study of whether Amber Alerts work, a team led by University of Nevada criminologist Timothy Griffin looked at hundreds of abduction cases between 2003 and 2006 and found that Amber Alerts - for all their urgency and drama - actually accomplish little. Source: www.boston.com
I read this article about the Amber Alert and have mixed feelings. I know the Amber Alert definitely serves a purpose and has helped to locate many missing children, but I am very much an advocate for education programs both for parents and children. I child goes missing every 40 seconds in this country so there are not enough Amber Alerts to keep up with all the missing kids. Parents, please please do not have a “it can’t happen to me” attitude when it comes to missing children. There is no discrimination when it comes to missing/abducted children. Valuable resources for parents: