YouTube Joins Fight to Find Missing Children

YouTube has a new channel created exclusively for posting videos of missing children. The channel was created in partnership with the International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children and The Find Madeleine Campaign. Through this venture worldwide access to information needed to quickly inform the public of a disappearance will be available. The ICMEC has released a press release describing the development of the channel.

YouTube was the obvious location for such a channel due to its immense popularity and reach. Posting a video of a missing child costs nothing, although submission criteria and verification will be carried out. The ICMEC will oversee administration of the channel. Viewers with information regarding a featured child will be directed to the appropriate authorities.

The need for a media resource with global reach is greater than it seems. Today's announcement is timed to mark the 100th day since Madeleine McCann went missing on a family vacation in Portugal. Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, looked to the ICMEC for assistance in creating a resource that would quickly share information and images internationally.

Ernie Allen, President and CEO of ICMEC, emphasized just how unique the challenges for law enforcement are when children are abducted in or to other countries. The number of children going missing each day in just the U.S. is enormous."In the U.S. alone, nearly 800,000 children are missing each year or about 2,000 each day," Allen said. "Photos remain the single most effective tool for finding a missing child. This new resource will provide unprecedented exposure for missing children, reaching potentially millions of viewers every day and increasing the opportunity that someone has seen them."

The YouTube missing childrens channel will also feature child safety advice and educational materials in several languages. One of the first is an internet safety video in Polish. Celebrities and dignitaries such as Laura Bush and David Beckham are lending a hand through public service announcements as well. David Beckham specifically pleas for help in finding Madeleine McCann. The channel can be seen at http://www.youtube.com/DontYouForgetAboutMe.

The channel's banner, "Don't You Forget About Me", is from a hit song by Simple Minds which is also featured on the video of 4 year old Madeleine. At this time there are a dozen videos of missing children being featured from a wide variety of sources. While many videos are still shots of flyers and photos one family has put together a clip of their daughter at home and some of the press coverage of her disappearance.