the vulnerable

When little Aisling Symes went missing from her grandparent's home a couple weeks ago in New Zealand, local authorities deployed to search for her and the story dominated the news as JonBenet Ramsey's did, once ago. Working with authorities the media intentionally broadcast personal details and spontaneous images of the toddler in attempt to 'humanize' the little one in hopes of encouraging an abductor to come forward. Looking back, I am wondering if JonBenet's story was ever given that chance in contrast to the sensational coverage her case has received over the years. Perhaps authorities and major media outlets didn't know then what they do now.

Aisling was found a week ago and laid to rest yesterday. Every parent's nightmare, harm caused a child by any means, Aisling was the victim of an terrible accident involving an apparently well known unsafe, now fatal, storm drain access - -

After Aisling: Nightmare on your street

Published in The Dominion Post
By DAVID GADD and MICHAEL FOX

"The tragic story of Aisling Symes captured so many hearts because it was a "lightning rod of dread" for all parents.

The anguish of Alan and Angela Symes, a family forced on to the national stage when their youngest child, two-year-old Aisling, vanished for a week before being found dead in a drain, led news bulletins and discussion on talkback radio shows for days...

Psychologist Rebecca Daly-Peoples, 37, mother of a four-year-old, points to parents' roles to protect their children. And when something happens that reminds us we can't, we all have to face our vulnerability.

When international cases, such as those of James Bulgar, JonBenet Ramsey or Madeleine McCann happen, they have a huge hold on us, says Ms Daly-Peoples, but because they are overseas, we can register but ignore them. When a child goes missing in New Zealand, all those demons emerge....

Ms Daly-Peoples says events like the Aisling case can cast long shadows. Parents are constantly trying to balance protecting their children and not wrapping them in cotton wool, she says. "It's that kind of fear that has actually meant now that kids don't walk to school by themselves and we drive them everywhere."[...read more]