Police urge parents to monitor children

sharjah — In the wake of the increasing number of missing reports of children and teenagers in the emirate, the Sharjah Police have called on the families to monitor their children during the summer vacation and keep an eye on them.

The police also urged parents to pay attention to their teenage children and keep a tight supervision on them to avoid their mingling with bad company.

In 2016 and the first half of this year, the police received more than seven cases of little children who were found wandering around, without being attended to by their parents. Police had to use social media to locate the negligent parents, after the children were brought to the police by members of the public.

Speaking to Khaleej Times, Colonel Faisal bin Nassar, deputy director of the department of search and criminal investigation of Sharjah Police, stressed that there has been an increase in the number of children and adolescent missing reports made by families in various parts of emirate.

Col bin Nassar attributed it to negligence on the part of the youngsters’ families.

In the cases of teenagers reported missing by their parents immediately after schools closed, they were found within less than

When the police receive a missing child report, they swing into action within 24 hours in cases where the kids are suspected of running away from home.” Colonel Faisal bin Nassar, department of search and criminal investigation, Sharjah Police

48 hours, either by the police or when they came back on their own after having spent the night at their friends’ places, without their parents’ knowledge.

“When the police receive a missing child report, they swing into action within 24 hours in cases where the kids are suspected of running away from home,” Col Bin Nassar said.

In interrogations, most children said their main reason for running away was fighting with parents over academic failure, going out with friends, or coming home late. “They don’t want to be scolded,” the official noted.

Col bin Nassar urged parents to be vigilant and engage their children in positive summer activities, to avoid their roaming the streets. He also hailed the efforts of the public in helping identify missing children, using social networking sites as a platform for search coordination, and for cooperating with security authorities.