Maybe some of you are familiar with this system, although others might not have heard about it yet. In The United States there already is an AMBER Alert plan, named after Amber Hagerman from Arlington, Texas who was kidnapped and murdered in 1996 at the age of 9.

The system wants to warn as many people as fast as possible after a child has gone missing. When more people are looking for a missing child, chances of finding them safely (and quickly) are much higher. And although plans like this are always made after something horrible happens, it’s good that it’s now in place.

Based on the American AMBER Alert plan, The Netherlands now has it’s own AMBER Alert system. The great thing about it is that you can sign up in numerous ways to receive these alerts in case a child goes missing. For now, I have signed up to receive an email alert (which I check daily and numerous times a day) as well as added it to my Hyves page (similar to Facebook).

I truly hope I never get an email because that would mean that all children are safe with their parents / legal guardians, but unfortunately in this day and age, you know that one day you will get that email or other notification saying a child has gone missing.

AMBER Alerts are not sent out for ‘every’ missing child (although every single missing child is one too many!) but only in cases when the authorities fear that the life and / or health of the child is in immediate danger. Or at least that’s how it works in The Netherlands.

Maybe there is something similar in your country, but I would seriously recommend checking it out. It only takes a few minutes of your time to sign up for it and it could make a big difference in a child’s life when it’s at stake!

1 Comment on "Amber Alert System"

I think it’s an amazing system… there were a couple of Amber alerts at the mall over the holidays and that was so scary but it’s nice to know that there’s a system in place that is helpful in situations like that. I’m really glad the Netherlands are going to use the same system

Felisa on January 14th, 2009 @ 1:43 AM

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