Do you know where your child is right now?

IT’S a troubling statistic: There was a 36% increase in the number of missing person cases involving children under 18 last year compared with 2023.

And that is mostly among those aged 13 to 15, according to the police.

There are names behind the numbers: Among them were Tan Joon Tien, 14, who went missing on Dec 28 in Cameron Highlands; Yap Xin Yuan, 15, who went missing on Dec 24 in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur; and Noor Amni Nazaranee, 14, who disappeared on Jan 9 in Puchong, Selangor.

The good news is that Joon Tien and Noor Amni were found alive and unharmed.

Tragically, Xin Yuan was found dead in a river in Banting, Selangor, on Dec 28.

Almost 14,000 children have been reported missing since 2014. But 98% of these cases have been resolved with the children found alive.

To quote the police, “Out of 13,779 cases, 13,726 were found alive, with the remaining deceased”.

So that means 53 children died after going missing from their homes and families.

One dead child is one too many.

That is why, although it’s great that most of the cases could be closed with the children found alive, we must address the issue of children going missing in the first place, because the numbers are increasing and each missing child is at high risk of coming to harm.

Unlike in countries like Colom­bia and Mexico, children aren’t often kidnapped in Malaysia.

According to the police, a lot of the time, missing children here have run away from home in search of freedom or to avoid family problems.

Some fall victim to crime – increasingly, these are scams encountered online where most children live nowadays – and, of course, there are also accidents as well as the consequences of mental health issues.

Conventional wisdom that says most of “these young people today” run away to be with a significant other is not true, according to the police.

It all seems to come down to parenting.

While not much can be done about accidents outside the home, and only vigilance can be emphasised when it comes to known mental health issues, our relationships with our children can be something we work on.

According to experts, misunderstandings between parents and children, family stress, neglect, abuse, and feelings of being misunderstood are what drive children and teens away from the safety of home.

When it’s a case of a toxic or abusive home environment, it falls to the community – the neighbourhood, the school, other family members and friends – to reach out to help affected children.

But sometimes it’s authoritarian parenting – characterised by strict rules, excessive control, and unrealistic expectations – that sends a child fleeing.

Respect for parents appears to be ingrained among Asians, but parents must also respect their teen children and recognise that they are independent individuals with their own feelings and opinions.

And then there’s social media. The rise in social media use among children has been linked to the increasing number of runaway cases.

The combination of a lack of education and parental supervision heightens their vulnerabilities, especially as they compare their lives to idealised lives portrayed online without realising that a lot of that is fake.

Parents need to be vigilant and proactive in educating their children about the dangers of social media and online interactions.

That can only happen if there is communication between children and parents.

Shutting down a curious teenager exploring the world is a surefire way to make that teen feel trapped and in need of freedom.

Build a relationship with your children so you know how they are feeling, so you can notice changes in behaviour that could be dangerous, and so you would never have to file a missing child police report.