Parental guide for supporting returned missing children’s emotional well-being

Reshma Ravishanker

When 16-year-old Prateek (name changed) went missing from Bengaluru last week, his family and well-wishers of the boy shared social media posts seeking any leads.

On his return six days later, the post with a photograph of the missing child continued to flow till his mother recorded a video thanking anyone who shared and helped find the boy.

Prateek is just one such case that has come to light. Nagasimha G Rao, director at Child Rights Trust, a Bengaluru-based NGO said that the NGO has been flooded with calls from parents of children who have run away from home.

However, he believes that a bigger ordeal begins when they return, and parents enable the child to put this incident behind and move on with routine chores. Rao has listed a few measures that parents must take when such children return home for their well being.

Here’s what parents can do

• On the child’s return, she a similar posted about the child’s return on social media. Do not circulate the photograph of the child in this poster. Sharing photos of missing children would be violating their privacy.
• As media organisations report various perspectives about the incident, it is imperative for parents to discuss the same with the child and instill confidence with empathy.
• With photographs of the child being circulated widely on social media, many recognize with her are bound to approach them with questions. Help them deal with the same.
• Ensure that all posts on social media about the missing child are deleted. Request friends and family to delete the post as well.
• Thank teachers and schoolmates of the child who have helped communicate when the child was missing. Meet school staff and sensitise them to ensure that the incident is not discussed in a light vein.
• Should a child go missing, parents must buy a temporary sim card, circulate the number, and discard the same after the child’s return.
• Tendency could be high among students who have run away to repeat the same again. Hence, seek counselling help for the child and yourself soon after the child returns.
• Set aside atleast two hours in a day to exclusively talk to children. Discuss issues in a friendly manner.
• Rather than treating this as an incident, parents must take this as a learning experience. 

Also read: Academic pressure pushing children to run away from home