BaCk In MY DaY!

Last week, I saw a 6 year old child buy cigarettes for what i hope was his mom and/or dad.  I started to think about the history of the U.S. At least 50 years ago, if not 40, our parents were buying cigarettes and alcohol for their parents. Children also roamed their neighborhoods with the understanding that at lunchtime (if it was a weekend) and at dinner time they would be back in time to sit down at the table and eat with the family. There did not seem to be this consistent fear of child abduction and people in neighborhoods watched out for one another. It was a different time where people trusted each other.
When I was growing up, (in the mid 80's to late 90's) my mom knew where I was every second of every day. The rule of thumb was that if I couldn't see my house I had gone too far. My mom yelled and I was to either come to the house or answer. It was the start of the end of what I call the trusting age.  STRANGER DANGER was what the majority of my peers grew up with. See a stranger and STAY AWAY. I was always taught if someone pulled up asking for directions in a car, I could walk or run away and not feel guilty about it.  This was probably attributed to   Sara Ann Wood's disappearance 100 feet away from her house in 1993, in upstate NY of all places. This brings me to Mongolia.
In Mongolia, it's like the 1950's again. Kid's buying cigarettes, running to the store alone, running around aimlessly with their friends after dark. Older kids watch out for their younger siblings and there is an overall feeling of social responsibility where people look after others children. For this blog, I attempted to find statistics on kidnappings in Mongolia, but found none pertaining to kid's.  In fact, the only information I found on kidnapping pertained to an American visiting. When they gave the kidnappers money, they were let go.  See attached link: kidnapped in Mongolia.I  know that there is in fact human trafficking that does occur, but most Mongolian's that are trafficked are coerced or tricked into it. See  human trafficking for more information.
My inability to find empirical statistics on the kidnapping of children does not necessarily mean that it doesn't happen. It could very well still occur, but as a country Mongolia remains naive to these horrors. I hope this naivety persists forever.  That children continue to roam the streets free of worry, and that parents continue to trust that their communities will offer support and safety for their children.