It was when the young, teenage girl turned to me in a state of panic and almost touched her nose to mine and shouted at me: it was you, when I was explaining that I drive a white van and a calm perspective is what’s needed, when I realised that the white van child abduction media frenzy is getting out of control. We teach our children to run, we teach our children to seek out a busy place, we teach them to be aware of what is going on around them. We must also teach them perspective. In the middle of the social media storm, perspective is hard to grab hold of, but we must, for the sake of our children. For the sake of their freedom and so that they don’t live in a state of fear.
The media love the white van story. When something else more newsworthy comes along, they will drop it like a stone. Today’s headline is tomorrow‘s chip paper. The fear will also fade. Is it the White Van Urban Myth that has been documented in Australia, America and Sweden? Nobody is calling anyone a liar. Fear is real, but we cannot let it overrun us.
Don’t be paranoid, be aware. Paranoia grows from and will fade with that fear. Awareness must stay with us all, at all times. So, we must teach our children not to be afraid of every white van that passes them on their way to school – this will exhaust the poor loves, consume them, as every other car is a van and at least every other van is white and men get in and out of white vans to go to work and sometimes men get out of white vans and run, just like you or I jump out of our cars and run, because we are late. We must teach them to be aware: heads up, shoulders back, no headphones, no shortcuts. Walk with a friend if you can and laugh, chat – but don’t be afraid. Be aware.
I get paranoid as a mum, but we must give our children the correct tools to equip themselves for everyday life, not just for life in the middle of a media storm. Otherwise, this is when our children are most at risk.
MadHouseMum is founder and chief instructor at Oaks Martial Arts. If you are interested in learning about how we teach this EVERYDAY awareness to children and adults, please e mail: alison@oaksmartialarts.com