Facebook rescue highlights 'ongoing struggle'

[tranquil_eyes]

AUSTRALIA - By ABC News Online's Clayton Bloom

An academic says public education campaigns need a rethink after two girls used Facebook to alert people that they were stuck down a stormwater drain.

The 10 and 12-year-old girls updated a Facebook status to say they were lost in an Adelaide drain, and a young friend called for help on their behalf.

Comments

[pennieblack]

When I was eleven, if I'd gotten stuck in a hole I would have never called emergency services unless I'd broken something. I'd have been freaked out, but not enough to 'bother the authorities' (how embarassing!) if I had someone else I could contact - even another kid.

Which, alright, now I know that response would be silly. But for kids?

Based on the limited information, I think this is less a case of not thinking to call and more a case of not wanting to call. (:

[scolaro]

MTE.
When I got lost on a school trip (in a museum - bloody teachers couldn't count and left me there) when I was 9 it never occurred to me to call my mom to pick me up. She was at work and I wasn't in any immediate danger, so I figured I'd just try to find the way home myself.

Obviously these kids didn't think their situation was bad enough to alert the authorities, but I also think they would have called under different circumstances.

[mentalrant]

I imagine they thought they could get out themselves, and updated the status saying they were stuck anyways. I'm sure if things were that horrible they would have known to eventually call emergency services.

[rex_dart]

That's what I thought. They're 12 years old; I'm sure they know about the emergency number, but they're at an age where they probably also thought that if they called the police, they'd end up in trouble for being in a storm drain.

[akuma_river]

This.

When I was that age I was more scared of what my mom would do to me for getting the cops involved than I was of the trouble I was in.

[aestas]

Weirdly enough, I can access the internet at times that I can't make phone calls.

[calimoonchild]

actually it makes sense. Posting on FB was a sure-fire way for them to reach ALL their friends, maybe even their family, in one go.

But yeah, they should have called 911 / 000 first.

[foolsguinea]

999: UK
000: Oz
911: USA

What are some other emergency codes?

[synekdokee]

112 - Finland