Keep Kidnapped Boys Out of the Limelight

Being an expert on personal safety concerning women and children, I am appalled at the media and the parents of the two kidnapped boys in Missouri.

Two boys ripped their homes, taken from their parents – one for four days and the other for four years, being exposed to God knows what physical, sexual and mental abuse from an alleged Pizza Pervert. And now to be victimized once again – most recently on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” put on display in front of millions of people.

Even though I realize that no one put a gun to the family’s heads and made them appear on the show, the producers, staff and Oprah should have not allowed it. She and her staff should have said: I’m not going to go there.

This type of exploitation is not healthy for anybody, in particular Shawn Hornbeck. First of all, the child has to reconnect with his family once again. Snatched off of the street four years ago, now 15 years old, he is a child whose whole perception of life now is screwed up.

I realize that Shawn stated that he wanted to give hope for other kids who are being held, but in his state? His parents should have said: No, we are not going to expose him to an interview at this time.

Even if just the Horneck and the Ownby parents came on the show, it is still putting the boys in the public eye even further. The two boys haven’t even been home a week.

I know the families must be overjoyed and want to share the news, but the news has already been shared at the press conferences when they were both found. And it is the parents’ moral responsibility to take care of their children first.

Dr. Clint van Zandt, who appeared on Oprah and who was once abducted himself, said: “We need to give these two kids some slack and let them have time to find themselves. Let them create new memories.”

Let’s take his advice and keep these kids out of the limelight.

Kym Rock

Nags Head, N.C.

Kym Rock is head of Fight Like a Girl, a personal safety program, and also teaches self-defense.

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