Today, May 25th, is National Missing Children’s Day. We will forego reiterating the terrible statistics about child trafficking because if you are reading this, we assume you already know the problem exists. However, you may not have known National Missing Children’s Day existed and is observed on May 25th every year. If not, don’t feel bad because you would be in the majority. For something as important as our children’s safety, one would expect this day to be more imprinted into our culture. As such, it may surprise you to know that President Ronald Reagan established National Missing Children’s Day in 1983. If you are keeping score, that was 33 years ago. 33 years…Why is this day not more prominent in our society?

Those old enough might remember Etan Patz of New York City being abducted on his way to school on May 25th, 1979. Adam Walsh was another abducted from a department store in Hollywood, FL on July 27th, 1981. You might also remember the numerous abductions and murders in the Atlanta area during that same time. These incidents led Congress and the President to take action, which brings us to today. Many new laws are on the books and law enforcement does all they can to catch these criminals, but we still lose 17,000 children each day here in the United States.

Laws and law enforcement can only do so much. Law enforcement wants to do more, but they have limited resources; that is just the way of the world. Even if we had the resources to rescue 500 children each year, we would still lose over 16,000. That is unacceptable. One child taken is one too many.

National Missing Children’s Day – Missing Children’s Rally

As part of recognizing National Missing Children’s Day, Florida National University is hosting a Missing Children’s Rally to bring further attention to the issue and expand awareness beyond the nation’s capital. Founder of Phantom Rescue and Vice Chairman of ERASE Child Trafficking, Tony Sparks, will be one of many guest speakers who will talk about how we can encourage parents, guardians, and those in power to prioritize child safety and recovery.

The only way to make a change is to start working together as a society to spread the word and teach our children how to protect themselves. Together, we can make a difference and keep them safe.