An Open Letter to The Amber Alert Complainers

On a Sunday night in 2016 around 9:30pm EST the OPP used the new and enhanced Amber Alert program for the first time. The alert sounded a loud, repetitive alarm that disrupted the sound on Television shows, to alert viewers about a missing boy through a large pop up on the screen. 

The police were trying to find a young boy that people had called in and reported as forced into a minivan. It turned out that the young boy was actually picked up by his parents after they said that he had run away. The boy from 2016, ended up safe! So that’s a positive and happy story right? But not all of them are, this time it was different. This time the young girl went missing and was found hours later deceased. 

Now that the new and enhanced Amber Alert includes cell phone notifications, people are STILL, 3 years later… COMPLAINING. A life was lost this time and even being aware of that, some of you are still complaining about losing sleep? ARE YOU JOKING?

I mean, I was impressed with the Amber Alert. It was to the point! If they had something like this years ago, maybe more lives could have been saved. You never know. I was just so happy that there is a system like this in place to keep people… children safe. Wouldn’t anyone feel that way? 

You’d think so. You’d think that those who had their Television programming or even their sleep interrupted for what was a brief moment in time, would be pleased that people are doing everything they can to protect a child. Some were… but many, many were not. Many even took to social media to complain. Some people even called the police to complain. The POLICE. They wasted valuable police time calling 911 to complain about an alert on their TV and then again this year for the one on their phone! 

 

 

Amber Alert

*Screenshot of comment from 2016 about Amber Alert where the boy was found.

*Screenshot of comment left about Amber Alert sent in 2019 – Has since been deleted, and account deleted.

 

I would like to express my utter disgust with those who have complained or were complaining. Like the people above. So I am going to. Now. 

Dear Amber Alert Complainers, 

I would like to start by saying that although you may not be located anywhere near where the Amber Alert is being released,  people move fast and if this were a child abduction, it’s important to spread the word as quickly as possible to other places. Alerting the public to keep an eye out for someone’s son or daughter… their child is not an inconvenience but a blessing. 

Are you Serious?

How is it that you can sit there and complain that your television show or sleep was interrupted when someone could be missing their child? How can you possibly be so damn selfish that the noise of that interruption might have woken up your sleeping children and so you complain? You do know that your children are sleeping, safely in their beds while someone else’s child may be scared, alone or being abused right? Which ended up being the case when this twitter user inferred it wasn’t a real emergency. DISGUSTING PEOPLE. 

What if it Were Your Child?

What if this was your child? Would you complain about the alert then? If no one did anything about it, if no one broadcast an alert, would you then say that enough was not being done? Of course you would, because you would (or so I hope) want to move heaven and earth to find your child safely. You would want nothing more than for your child to be ok, and located and brought back home! If having your child home safely meant that you had to miss 2 minuets, heck even 20 minuets of your favourite TV show or be woken up at midnight, I am positive that is a price you are willing to pay. It’s a price I am willing to pay for your children’s safety. It’s a price MANY would be willing to pay for the safety of YOUR children. Why? Because a Television show will come on again. There are repeats, There are plenty of places online to stream TV, and some TV’s even have a fancy PVR where can record the same TV Show later down the road. Your TV show is replaceable SO IS YOUR SLEEP. CHILDREN are NOT. 

Stop Complaining and Count Your Blessings..

I keep seeing all these complaints from people on social media, saying: “Oh the alert was so loud it scared me and woke up my children..” Good. The Alert gave you an extra chance to give your Children an additional hug that night, it allowed you to hold them tight, and hopefully, these alerts will give that same chance to those whose children are missing, by potentially bringing them home.

“Why do I have to see it? I live in a different province or city?” BECAUSE. Because, people travel fast. Notifying a large volume of people all at once is a great way to help, to get someone to notice and call in if they see anything suspicious. It could save a life.

Have Some Compassion

I am beyond willing to give up parts of a TV show or sleep if I have to, to ensure other people’s children are safe and to know that this Amber Alert system would be in place if my family ever needed it. 

Those of you complaining should be absolutely ashamed of yourselves. There is no excuse for that kind of behavior. Where is your sense of compassion? Where the hell are your priorities? 

When I see things like this, I start losing faith in humanity!

Who the heck are we as a generation, community, and people… that we can’t give up a little bit of a TV show or a tiny bit of shut-eye to possibly save someone’s life? 

We need a change. Everyone that complained, you are all horrible and disgusting.

What did you think of the Amber Alert interrupting your TV or going off on your cellphone?

8 Comments

  1. inkscrblr on March 9, 2016 at 12:33 pm

    I was working up here and heard it. Husband was downstairs watching TV. It was loud for sure. Didn’t wake anyone up here but it caused me to get up from my computer and my office and walk downstairs because I thought (honest to god) that my husband had broken the TV or something. So it got my attention and that was the point. Also by the time I started sharing he had been found. I agree with you 100 % that that was the point and people like this idiot quoted on Facebook saying I hope they never find the kid are not fit to be able to have social media. They should ban him from using Facebook. IDIOT. Of course people travel and move kids if they are abducted – that’s the point to sneak them away.

  2. Carol Gomez (@CarolAuCourant) on March 9, 2016 at 6:54 pm

    It’s really disheartening seeing many of the comments, mostly complaints, about the amber alert and how ridiculous it was beeping more than it should have interrupting their favourite shows or “finales”.
    So absolutely appalling.
    Parent or not, if you find an amber alert of any nature attempting to find a missing child a nuisance in any way, shape or form, there is something terribly wrong with you. Period.

  3. Sheelagh on March 11, 2016 at 4:50 pm

    I have no issue with this type of alert, whatever it takes to get the word out quickly so that people can be on the lookout, works for me. I have heard that this alert was used by mistake and that it was supposed to be a yellow banner running along the bottom of the TV. The alert that was used is supposed to be for an emergency like a bad storm rolling into an area, the type of situation where people need to take cover. If that is true complainers need not worry about this with future amber alerts.

  4. Lynda Cook on March 15, 2016 at 3:50 pm

    Very well said! I was sickened when I seen so many negative responses, how terrible of people to even say stuff like that, if it was there child they would want the same and have it put everywhere. I’m glad they did the amber alert and I hope they continue to do so!!

  5. babystylista on March 27, 2016 at 12:43 am

    This is a GREAT post. You asked the perfect questions – namely… “What if it were your child?” I am noticing more and more that people lack compassion because they simply can’t be bothered. It saddens me. Yes – if we had Amber Alert available years ago… imagine how many lives would be saved. Loved this. People just need to stop complaining, get off their high horse, and have a good dose of humble pie.

  6. D King on April 5, 2016 at 7:35 pm

    Amber alerts on Radio make SOME sense. Red Toyota Pickup truck last seen southbound on I-15 might be worth something. Amber Alerts on Television?? I don’t have a TV in my car! The only Red Toyota Pickup I see on TV was from a show filmed 15 years ago. Not likely to be involved.
    Recent study said that Amber Alerts RARELY lead to the arrest. The ones on Television, as far as I know, have NEVER led police to kidnappers.
    So, radio alerts along the path of the car/truck as well as overhead signs on the freeway, sure, might be helpful. Amber alerts on TV, no, just stupid. Additionally, the weather alerts get pretty stupid at times too. Here in San Diego last year we had an alert for SOUTHERN NEVADA. San Diego to Las Vegas is 263 miles apart by air, far more by car. If you can’t narrow the region down any more than that, it’s totally worthless!
    Then again, the idiot weather “reporter” based in New York said “Denver and other WEST COAST BEACH locations…” The closes “west coast beach” to Denver is 900 miles away. My Dad always said the problem are the most people read atlas maps. California is on two pages. New York (state) is on two pages. It only takes a couple of hours to cross New York, the same must be true in California. (California is ~700 miles from top to bottom)
    People STILL fly into Los Angeles (LAX) and want to rent a car to drive up to San Francisco for lunch. Good luck with that. It’s a solid six hour drive between the two cities. More if you go up the scenic Highway 1/101.

  7. Diane on May 15, 2018 at 1:34 pm

    Okay. fine. Put it on the TV. BUT don’t send it to my phone and tell me I cannot opt out. I do sometimes go to bed early, and I expect that a ringing phone in the middle of the night means something bad for me or a loved one. I don’t want to have to turn it off. If I’m watching TV, I don’t mind. Yesterday, I got THREE messages – English, French and Cancel about an Amber Alert that was more than 500 km away. It was day time, but next time, who knows??? Put it on TV, Twitter, Facebook, wherever… BUT STAY OFF MY CELL PHONE!!!!

  8. Jeanine on February 15, 2019 at 8:46 am

    I was asleep so I didn’t see or hear any of it, but I wouldn’t be bothered by it (besides feeling awful for the child and family)

    I’m in Barrie, this happened in Brampton and the man was found in Orillia. OK so what if they hadn’t found him yet and he was found a few days from now in ANOTHER city? THIS IS WHY AMBER ALERTS get sent to EVERYONE no matter how far you are – the fact people complain or don’t understand this is mind blowing.

    this is an AMBER ALERT. meaning an INNOCENT CHILD is MISSING. People are disgusting, so it doesn’t surprise me at all but every single one of them that called 911 to complain should be charged. Their names should also be released (caller id?) and anytime they need help – they should be ignored. oh, what? karma? Okay, well tell that to the little girl who was found DEAD.

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