Countless young children disappear every day in the world, are the victims of abuse and crime, and see their short lives ended by vile scumbags, but when one is pretty, female and white, then the media start to take notice and sensationalism begins. Madeleine McCann, a British toddler of just four years of age, went missing several weeks ago at a Portugese resort when her parents left her sleeping alone to go and have lunch elsewhere. Since the girl fits the criteria above, a media storm ensued and you’d be hard pressed to have not heard about her by now. That doesn’t stop the latest trends being exploited to keep the publicity going, as police officers are now putting virtual posters up in Second Life.
Jim Gamble of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center praises the move as indicative of commitment on the part of the police force. Personally I’d call it a waste of time with no use other than to keep the story interesting and make the police look like they’re “trying everything”. I’d also like to be the first member of any sort of press (that I’ve seen) to call the parents of this child irresponsible, unfit and stupid beyond all human comprehension. I don’t care how far behind you leave your child or how hungry you are, you do not leave a child alone. They abandoned their daughter to go eat, and worse, in a foreign country. Now a girl’s missing, and at the risk of being perceived as heartless, no amount of pissing around in Second Life is going to help her.
Oh, and as you read this, a million other little boys and girls are being abducted, killed or raped, but sadly they just aren’t photogenic enough to get this kind of attention.
[Via Kotaku]
