Safety Net?

Last night on national news, I heard about an 8-yr-old California girl who was found in a suitcase, murdered. It breaks my heart every time about I hear about any crimes toward children. Youth. Innocence. Lost. This child was playing in front of her house with a neighborhood pal. As she went from one friend's home to anothers, she was abducted. Playing in front of her house.

As parents, we all try to give our kids boundaries. We are bombarded with news reports citing the climbing rise of obesity in children. So, trying to be the good parents that we are, we encourage socializing with other children and promote outdoor play. What happened to the "Leave it to Beaver" days when children could go outside, blocks away, form a baseball team, and play with their buddies from just after school until dusk? Parents never worried about abduction or murder - they just prayed their child wouldn't be the one getting "in trouble"!

I watch the neighborhood children on my block gallantly frollick back and forth across the streets. All kids are welcome to play; none is ever turned away. The kids bounce from home to home, swindling treats from each family home, sharing their slides and swings and other various playground-type equipment, playing basketball and riding bikes. Each child truly enjoys his/her playtime with the kids in their neighborhood - they share a unique bond. They live in the same area!

But as content as it is for me to watch them, in the back of my mind I always have a watchful eye. Watching for what? The boogeyman? Sure, if that's the form these predators take. I want them to be safe, happy, and unharmed. When one falls from a bike, I'm sure to run out to make sure it's only a skinned knee and not a broken appendage. But where are the parents? Are they not also worried about the well-being of their child? Are they convinced that "someone else" is watching out for their child? Are they too preoccupied with their daily chores that they cannot set aside time to enjoy the age of innocence?

I wish we didn't have to watch our children every second of the day. I wish kids were able to ask their parents if they could go for a bike ride and we wouldn't have to worry about the "what-ifs" that might happen. I wish it were as easy as worrying about your kid getting hurt on that bike ride, not something as extreme as abduction, murder, or rape. But I'm also not naive. I realize that the world has changed and we cannot allow our youth to play outdoors unsupervised. A pity, really. These children will never brawl to work out their differences, a parent will always be there to intervene.

Living in St Joe has given me a sense of safety. Saying it outloud tells me how silly it sounds. But really, I enjoy being a member of a community where I'm not overly concerned if I forget to lock my doors at night. I take for granted that my kids can go outside and play in the field while I glance up every now and then, instead of the persistent watchful eye that is needed in other parts of the country. But is this a false sense of security? What makes our city any different? Does the boogeyman live here, too? Are the predators watching my kids, too?

Tonight I'm going to tell my kids just how much I love them, give them big hugs, and pray that tomorrow they will have another day of fun, oblivious to the boogeyman and his evils, and I will be watching to ensure their safety. Always watching.