AS of Press time, the search for five-year-old Sharlinie Mohd Nashar who went missing from a playground near her home in Taman Medan, Petaling Jaya still continues.

For Malaysians who are still reeling in shock from the murder of Nurin Jazlin, we can only imagine the agony Ninie’s family is experiencing and going through. And, surely all of us are praying for her safe return.

The incidents of children going missing – not only from playgrounds or pasar malam visits, but also from the comforts of their own homes – signals the fact that life today is no longer the same as yesteryears gone by and our children are no longer safe.

While parents may take every precaution in ensuring the security of their offspring, there are others who prey on them. Apart from the installation of closed circuit televisions (CCTVs), many are wondering what more can be done.

Of course, for the ones that can afford it, there are numerous safety gadgets that can be bought and installed for the purpose of child protection.

One company in the US provides a child monitor/locator system comprising a base unit and tamper-proof bracelets that enables parents or guardians to monitor and locate their children, individuals suffering from autism, those with special needs, and people with learning disabilities when they are out at the neighbourhood park, theme park, mall, airport or even when they’re just playing in the backyard.

When the individual leaves a user-defined range, an alarm sounds on the portable base unit carried by the parent. The base unit can then be put in to “Find Mode”, used to assist in directing parents back to their children. If the tamper-proof bracelet is removed from the child’s wrist, a tamper alarm sounds instantly at the Base Unit to alert parents.

A simpler and cheaper gadget would be door monitor. A door monitor is a good way to know if your kid enters or exits any door. This device sounds either a warning alert or a chime whenever a child enters or leaves a protected door.

There are numerous gadgets available for child protection purposes, particularly for the more cautious or some would say “over-paranoid”.

But the bigger issue in most of the missing children cases in the country is not so much of whether parents are implementing adequate child protection measures (though it must be said this is of the utmost importance). It seems that now there are an increasing amount of individuals who are emotionally or psychologically disturbed to the point that they vent their emotions on young children.

And this have to dealt with, quickly.