CLOSING 16TH AUGUST - Muggle Studies Discussion Class

This is a topic that hits home with most people due to the fact that we all know of, or have children in our lives some way. So when we hear of children being abducted, we can empathize and put ourselves in their shoes. In the past 5 years the media has also played a huge role in bringing these occurances to light. Before the media covered them, you usually only heard about abductions on the news briefly or on the back of a milk carton. But with the case of Elizabeth Smart and more recently the two boys that were found together, the media had the country routing for their safe return.

For me, child abductors are some of the scariest criminals out there. Most child abductors being men who have sexual fantasies involving children, and in addition, they often exhibit other disorders such as pedophilia and sexual sadism. Unlike serial killers and mass murderers, child abductors can't be typecast due to the diversity of personalities seen in sex offenders, which is too great to diversify. Many of these perpertrators do have empathy for their victims, but it is greatly misplaced. They can feel the pain that they inflict on their victims, but they get pleasure from it, instead of feeling guilt or compassion. Thats very scary to me.

Somehow, I connect 'abduction' with serial killers - kidnapping someone, randomly or not, and then torturing them. But not all of them are, right? Some of them, 'just' wants some money, so they ask for a ransom. This is fairly normal among rich people, since everyone knows that they HAVE that money. Usually, they don't want to hurt the one they have abducted, but no one wants to take risks when it's your child's life on the line. That's understandable, right? And as we all know, in real life, we don't have any macho men running recklessly around with guns, killing 'bad people' and saving the day with not a single scratch.

As for how much people do, is all up to each person. Some may help the family to put up signs with "Have you seen this girl/boy?" or stuff like that, but is that enough? I think people should do more! How, I'm not sure. It's just frustrating to see people NOT doing anything about it, even if they could, while people who actually can't do anything, wants to.

Agatha had a brillian point there. *claps*

Now what reason takes someone to abduct well there's those who abuct people either to 'sell tem', to kill them, to torture them just for fun, to ask for a ransom.

If we take the ones who ask for a ransom and think only about the money and not in what they're doing we're left with the ones with pathololical psychological problems.

Strange thing the mind, and even stranger how differently it works from person to person. We may not understand why people do such things but we must not rush to judge we should try to understand their side no matter how monstruos it might look.

If a person takes pleasure in others pain, even if it's a 'sain' conscient person, does that mean isn't something wrong with that person? So if it's something wrong why do we only punish those people instead of trying to help them? I know that some people are too 'damaged' to be 'repaired' but should we try?

As for what people do or mostly don't do when they know about cases of abduction. Aren't they as much criminals as the abducters? But do we hate them for that? No...

The emotional impact of the family is a sad thing but we shouldn't be blinded by it.

In the 70's there was a case of a little boy who was kidnapped- it was made into a movie called I Know My Name Is Steven. The man who kidnapped raised him as his son, sexually and mentally abused him. Steven could not remeber much about his life, but he lived in fear so that even when he was a teenager and often left alone he did not try to escape. When Steven was about 17 or so his abducter brought home another little boy which prompted Steven to finally seek help for himself and the new little boy. Steven was reunited with his family (he had quite a large family). So obviously he had lots of problems, but it turns out so did his family. His brother was behind the murders at Yosemite (Where the mother daughter and cousin were kidnapped and murdered). I think the impact of a sibling disappearing is often overlooked, most times people focus on the parent's grief. But for the child or children left behind it must be as equally horrifying- the guilt, the resentment over the parents focus on the missing child, the craziness that your life becomes can ruin them.

Another topic I want to bring up is the punishment of people who hurt children- I strongly believe that there is no cure for a person that feels sexual attraction to children. Even medical castration is not 100% since child molesters (and I would argue that most child abductors started out first as molesters) can harm children in so many ways. I think that as a society we need to punish those that harm children in any way much more severly than we do.

Here in America we have started using the Amber Alert- and it has worked in many cases. But it could be better, more countries need to have a similar system, one that can be used and accessed by every country so that if children are abducted and taken to other countries they are still on alert there. Especially so in Europe where other countries are so close and accessible. The case of little Madeline is tragic, but there is hope. Media attention can help bring a child home. Most had given up on Elizabeth Smart coming home, but she did. Hopefully little Madeline can too.

Wow, Kate. That story about that boy... it's quite shocking to hear that these kind of things happen. Afterall, many of us live in an enironment where we feel safe, and we keep on believing "Well, that would never happen to me, or anyone I know," but when it does, it hits harder than you would think.

I have never dealt with a member of my family or any of my friends being abducted, but I have read many stories and it always frightens me that it could happen to anyone. There are several reasons why someone would abduct someone. One being a mental illness, ransom money, pay back. The ones who do it for money and pay back disgust me. Why harm someone that did nothing to you, yeah harming the person who did something isn't good, but harming an innocent, in my opinion, is worse. The whole mental illness bit, I guess I can't necessarily be mad at them, but the fact that they haven't received help is sad.

Our society needs to do something about the mentally ill. There are usually signs, crimes that lead up to abduction, warning signals that too often get ignored. I can be mad at a person who chooses not to get help, because not everyone who has a mental illness is so far gone that they don't realize they need help. But I get even angrier at the stories of someone who asks for help and is denied or shuffled through a system that lets them slip through the cracks.

Assuming that the person that abducted the little girl is mentally unstable, and I think that's a fair assumption to make, do you think that if they are caught they will have a record of mental problems? And would it change how you felt about their punishment if they turned away from treatment in the past?

I recently watched a program about a gentleman living in New York. He was schziophrenic and in and out of hospitals and treatment facilities, begging for help. He was often placed in group homes that were not capable of helping his many needs. But he also stopped taking his medicine and one day, right after new years day, he shoved a woman in front of a train in the subway. The show offered both view points, one showing that he tried to get help, and the other showing that according to witnesses he deliberatly waited for the train to get close before attacking her and throwing her in front of the train. It was a very interesting show, and I am still torn as to what his punishment should have been. I can certainly emphasize with people who have problems, but at the same point he obviously can't be allowed to roam the streets of civilization. Perhaps he should have been put away in a mental institution long ago, but at what point do you make a decision to do that? Before or after a crime is committed?

But aren't there people that are mentally ill, but doesn't show it? Like the serial killer Ted Bundy! No one thought he would be able to do the things he did, because he was considered "a charming young man". I just don't get it how some people can keep up such a double life...

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And would it change how you felt about their punishment if they turned away from treatment in the past?

I heard about that story, about Steven. I was so shocked when I heard it.
Child abductors are some of the worst criminals out there. Children are innocent and I don't know how anyone could do the things that I have heard about.

I, personally, think that we should find more ways to help. The media is always great, it's good that the people know about it and are willing to help. I understand that the police can't really do much more than they already are but I agree with Kate that there is no cure for someone sexual attracted to children.
There are usually signs connected to someone like that and people need to know them and realize what they are before that person does something like abduct or abuse a child.

And I think that people who rape, abuse, abduct, or hurt children in any way should have to face the parents or loved ones of the child. I cannot imagine what it would be like to be the parent of these kids.

On behalf of your professor Running_swift who can not get online tonight to close this discussion, I present you with your housepoints.

Well done to everyone who participated




SLYTHERIN


Agatha Black: 35


Raistlin The Wizard: 45


Drkangelcat: 20





RAVENCLAW


Rigby Dumbledore: 50





GRYFFINDOR


Caroru: 40





HUFFLEPUFF


Bella Muerte: 30