A strange man who stalks children on their way to school, gives them sweets and then drags them into a car. Such a scenario is the nightmare of many parents – and it feels like this danger is very close and theoretically lurks everywhere. Because reports regularly circulate on social media that someone has approached children in a suspicious manner or that a suspicious van has been sighted in front of a school. This unsettles the parents and sometimes has consequences for police work.
Example Nuremberg: In the police more and more parents reported in February because strange men are said to have approached children on the way to school and in some cases offered them sweets. The whatsapp groups many parents are running hot, rumors are spreading, schools are writing e-mails to worried parents, the police are patrolling more and more. The police investigated According to their own statements, finally three men who are said to be responsible for about a dozen of the cases. To offenses so it didn’t come.
Children addressed: rumors with consequences for police work
But even after that, more and more suspected cases are reported to the police – from all over the city to the neighboring areas Fuerth. “It always comes in waves. It’s a phenomenon that always accompanies us,” explains Chief Inspector Martin Richter, who works at the Police Central Franconia responsible for prevention. The parents alerted each other via social media, and the location of the event could then change.
Example Celle (Lower Saxony): As a father, the policeman Dirk Heitmann knows only too well which ones momentum can arise on social media when parents fear for their children. Recently his WhatsApp groups exploded
nearly. Sometimes it was said that a child had been spoken to in Celle, sometimes it was said that it had been pulled into a car. “It builds up. Sometimes one case mistakenly turns into several. Talking to someone turns into yelling or being pulled into the car.”
“It puffs up”: News develops its own momentum
In the case, an eight-year-old boy was killed in February way back from school approached by a driver. The boy pedaled and rode home quickly. According to Heitmann, the police inspection was able to clarify a second, similar case at the time: In the pouring rain, a driver had offered a 14-year-old to take him home. Since the man used to live on the street, he thought the boy recognized him, says Heitmann. “We can actually resolve many cases. Often it is about misunderstandings.”
“There are many motivations for addressing children. Rarely is the intention sexual,” reports Nuremberg police officer Richter. It is extremely rare for a child to be dragged into a car in an ambushed manner. sexual violence tend to happen at close range. “Most of the time, the perpetrator has a relationship with the child, sometimes building it up over months.” On Information evenings at schools He and his team explain the actual dangers to the parents – and also appeal to them to contact the police instead of sharing suspicious cases, rumors or even independently written searches via social media.
Because the number of people who read these warnings is increasing exorbitantly, reports the police Oberberg district in North Rhine-Westphalia. “The problem is that children, parents and educators suddenly fear danger everywhere and everyday occurrences are then classified as potential dangers.” As a result, the phones at the police station are no longer silent.
Parents fear danger from social media everywhere
“That makes our work more difficult because it ties up capacities, including that phantom messages investigate,” emphasizes Richter. In addition, it is sometimes hardly possible for the investigators to track where there is actually an accumulation of cases.
The police in Celle therefore carefully weighs up each time whether to go public with a case of suspicious contact – as the police say. “It’s a fine line,” says Heitmann. On the one hand, you don’t want to set off a wave. On the other hand, you also have to look at how much of this is already happening on social media misinformation to catch if necessary. After the two cases in February, the police therefore made a general appeal to parents, teachers and kindergarten staff to protect these important children Rules of conduct in the event of a suspicion to hand over.
The uncertainty of many parents also affects the everyday life and the development of the children. Many parents bring their children to school in the morning and pick them up later, reports Julia Moestl from KidsPro, which offers child protection training in schools and kindergartens in the greater Nuremberg area. When they start school, some children also get a smartphone or a smartwatch so that the parents can always reach the children and, in some cases, thanks to location services, can even see where they are, she says.
Technology gives parents a false sense of security
The expert thinks little of it. “That gives the parents and children a false sense of security,” she says. In addition, the child does not learn to be independent. Holger Hofmann from the German children’s charity looks similar. “It does not serve the child if parents take them by the hand step by step.” Equipping children with GPS trackers, smartwatches or smartphones so that parents have a better feeling is questionable, he says. “We don’t think that’s okay from a child rights perspective.” It is about strengthening the children and teaching them how to react in the event of a possible danger. “But I don’t do that by always following them.”
