It's every parents worst nightmare and it goes to show - like it or not - we are living in different times these days so for safety sake, we had better change our behaviors accordingly.
Just over a week ago, in the still of the night, a tiny three year old boy was taken from his home and family in Sparwood, BC.
To the relief of all Canadians watching on - sickened by the potential - this week he was returned safely to his home. Thank God.
In this instance - when he went missing - the little guy was tucked safely in his bed. How an abductor would have the nerve to walk into a family home and take a child from their bed is beyond me, but it happened. And things like this happen all the time, even in Yorkton if you think back to fair week. A slightly different situation, but a frightening one just the same that could have had an entirely different outcome.
While nobody wants to live in fear and everybody would like their children to play and enjoy a normal childhood as most of us enjoyed when we were younger, unfortunately, times have changed and we need to take a bit more care.
For one thing, and it doesn't matter where you live - Sparwood has a population of just over 4,000 - nobody is immune to crime. Lock your doors at night and watch your children. While we can't shadow them 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we can educate them and not allow them to wander the streets alone - especially after dark. I still shake my head when I see tiny kids playing out on the streets without a parent to be seen. One day I even saw a few - who couldn't have been any older than six - dodging back and forth on the train tracks waiting until the train arrived so they could throw rocks at it, getting so close with their little bodies that it prompted me to get out of my car to send them away.
Again, we can't watch them like hawks but to me, there was no parenting involved that day. Where is some people's common sense?
I think back to the days when we could set out for the park, play hopscotch in the streets and walk to the movies by ourselves as kids but sadly, it's just not as safe anymore. And no matter the many good things Yorkton has going on, as far as I'm concerned we shouldn't be turning a blind eye to the dangers that lurk.
It's not about living fear, it's about being safe and living in the present day.
