By Gavin Mackintosh-
School pupils who go missing for days without good excuse are daft. Let’s be frank and call them what they are.
Unless they are victims of something serious like child or sex abuse, they are plain stupid and rebellious. The fact they are young kids is irrelevant, we were all young kids at one point.
Leah Taylor- an 11 year old pupil from Hull, Yorkshire, went missing from Marvell College as part of what is believed to be a facebook challenge
She has denied she was playing the facebook challenge game, but no proper reason has been given for her disappearance. The alleged facebook challenge game encourages children to go missing without contact with anybody. It has become a new craze among school pupils, but only pupils who are daft will participate in such a game. It is senseless, stupid, and thoughtless. Pupils who take part in the challenge are credited for having their names appear on social media in search for them, but the entire idea shows lack of regard for authorities. Authorities at home, authorities at school.
Sightings of Leah were posted on social media after an appeal, but it was not until 5pm on Tuesday before she was discovered and taken to a police station. Several problem kids disappear from home and school without giving any notice to their parents. Many do it because they simply want to spend more time with a friend, or sometimes, somebody in whom they have a sexual interest. Children like that are accommodated by irresponsible adults who should face the full force of the law. The 11 year old pupil claims to have disappeared with a friend , not stating why exactly she did that. However, the eye of media.com will be following up to find out who accommodated her during her disappearance, and why .
32 year old Clare Taylor- the mother of the silly 11 year old child, plans to move her daughter to another school
Ms Taylor now wants to move her daughter to another school closer to the family home, and says her daughter has been quiet since her return.
Taylor said: ‘She said she stayed out with a friend but it was nothing to do with this dare. She said she didn’t know about it but she could be lying. I don’t know.
Her grandmother Lynn Weatherill had feared the worst during her granddaughter’s disappearance. She said:
‘Nothing like this has ever happened before and I do think it’s because she is getting in with the wrong people. I am just glad she is back. I am quite mad at her but I am more relieved that she is at home.’
Miss Weatherill, who works as a paranormal investigator, said that she saw two sides to Facebook after her granddaughter’s disappearance.
The 48-Hour Challenge
The facebook 48-Hour Challenge encourages children in pairs or groups.
They are encouraged to run away and break all contact for two days before suddenly re-appearing after the 2 days has lapsed.
Participants receive higher scores every time they are mentioned online, but the authors of the idea are both childish and stupid. Parents of such children need to emphasize the stupidity of their actions.
Children who have nothing better to do with their time than to disappear for days are an embarrassment to their parents and their school. It shows that not enough is being done to keep children busy with academic development and to make their academic environment motivating enough for them to want to be in school. Children should be taught that pupils who disappear from their parents for days are pathetic and very little common sense or wisdom. Harsh as it may sound, that’s the reality and only sensible interpretation. Only in families were sexual or physical abuse is taking place can any disappearance of children be understandable.
Only a few years ago, a ‘Game of 72’ craze swept Facebook years in Northern Europe, in which teenagers challenged each other to disappear without a word to their families for 72 hours. That game was equally ridiculous and stupid
Miss Weatherill wants to warn parents about it so they don’t have to go through the terror of a missing child.
She said: ‘It’s bloody horrible. Facebook needs to put a stop to it and that starts by not letting underage children sign up.
‘Kids see too much at their age online and they shouldn’t be allowed on Facebook until they are 16.
‘It’s frightening. We’ve just gone through it all and I’ve seen it on Facebook – lots of people have been telling me about this challenge.
‘I will battle and battle to try and get kids under the age of 16 off Facebook and I will argue all day about it. I am old fashioned but I am thinking of the kids and I just want to protect them.’
A Facebook spokesman told MailOnline: ‘The safety of young people on Facebook is a responsibility we take extremely seriously and we are