Last night I wrote some comments - under anonomous because I could not get the log in to work. It seems that either the comments were not approved or they have not been reveiwed yet. Now that I can log in - since I did not copy them - I will try to remember all that I said so that it can be posted here.

One thing that seems painfully obvious is that Mr. Doctorow has never been a full-time parent. No one who has ever had to know what it is like to raise children - and what it is like to let them go would have made such comments. It seems he has never placed his tust in a child - only to find that the child in question opted to make very poorly advised/rash decisions that could have even resulted in their losing life. Children disappear - if they have a cell phone stuff deep in their pocket they could be tracked. If they are thrown in a trunk they could retrieve that phone and call for help - or send a text to notify police. You say it's rare - but - it's not so rare that very few people suffer when this happens - if it so rare why are there support groups? Why has a "search center" and "child alert" program besn established? The highway signs in major cities flash warnings when a child has been abducted. Try tell Mr. Walsh, or Heidi Seamen's parents that child abductings are rare. Does not matter how rare it is - if the child is yours.

"Vandalism, shoplifting, and bullying are not on the rise. They've been in decline for decades."

Don't we just get percentages? There are more people - maybe the growth in population has offset the numbers - and really Mr Doctorow, how many times does someone report that they have been bullied?

And what about those kids that are not monitored by their parents - and are out tagging and vandaizing both public and private property. Better than that - why don't you go get yourself some of those kids who don't need to be monitored - ask them into your home - and then when they won't leave - or give you a phone number for the parents to come collect them - THEN tell me how "creepy" that is.