New statistics show that among children reported as missing from home, those who abscond by themselves far outweigh the number who are abducted, and that the Internet is playing a bigger part in children's disappearances.
According to statistics from the Child Welfare League Foundation (CWLF,
The foundation also found that youths between 12 and 18 years old made up the largest proportion of runaway children, in contrast to earlier studies which found that young people over 18 made up the bulk of the runaways.
The organization said that among the reasons for children to run away, strained family relationships and problems at school topped the list. One of the biggest contributing factors to this trend, according to the foundation, was over-indulgence in the virtual world of the Internet.
"It has become a growing social problem ... Many youths run away from home in pursuit of a romantic relationship they'd built through the Internet. It's a real worry because we don't know what kind of danger they might run into,"said KMT Legislator Lin Jih-jia (
In July 1998, cooperating with government agencies, Lin's foundation established the Missing Children Data Resource Center in Taichung, which through its network collects and updates data on missing children from all over the country.
As of February this year, 516 of the 708 missing children reported to the CWLF have been found, a success rate of around 73 percent. But according to statistics from the National Police Administration, there still remains more than 2,300 missing children nationwide.
Lin said that his foundation conducts its searches for missing children by coordinating with various social resources, and that the media in particular plays a key role.
"Though we have many successful searches, every day there are still parents who are eagerly looking forward to seeing their missing children again. Thinking of their missing loved ones is always painful to the parents," Lin said.
Of the 708 children reported missing, 50.4 percent were boys and 47.2 percent were between 12 and 18 years old. The foundation also said that 278 reports of missing children were from Taipei County alone, which ranked highest among all Taiwan's counties and cities.
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