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How to talk to your child about abduction
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A small Minnesota town decided to leave its porch lights on Thursday night to honor a child who has been missing for 26 years. - photo by Herb Scribner
Town members of St. Joseph, Minnesota, left their porch lights on Thursday night to honor Jacob Wetterling, an 11-year-old boy who disappeared from the town 26 years ago, according to KSTP.

The 11-year-old disappeared after being taken by a masked man, who approached Wetterling, his brother and a friend, KSTP reported.

Wetterling's disappearance is one of the most recognizable child-abduction cases in Minnesota, KSTP reported.

This isnt the first time the town has sought ways to honor the missing boy. Last year, town authorities posted six billboards throughout Minnesota honoring Wetterling and asked citizens to provide any details they might have had on the youngsters disappearance, according to CBS Minnesota. No new developments came from the billboard campaign.

We know that somebody out there has information, John Ryan, president of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, told CBS Minnesota in 2014.

This year, in addition to turning a porch light on, authorities are encouraging parents to talk with their children about how to stay safe from abduction, CBS Minnesota reported.

We have learned that when good people pull together for children, amazing things happen, Jacobs mother, Patty Wetterling, said in a statement. We ask for that commitment once again.

More than 800,000 children go missing every year, according to ABC News. But that number may just be an estimate since many missing child cases go unreported.

In fact, according to the NCMEC, there were more than 460,000 missing child cases reported to the FBI in both 2014 and 2013.

This number represents reports of missing children, according to NCMEC. That means if a child runs away multiple times in a year, each instance would be entered into NCIC separately and counted in the yearly total. Likewise, if an entry is withdrawn and amended or updated, that would also be reflected in the total.

Of those 460,000 cases, 84 percent were of children who ran away from home, and 12 percent were from abductions by family members, the NCMEC reported. Only 1 percent of children were abducted by nonfamily members, NCMEC reported.

Parents can keep their child from being abducted by simply talking to him or her about stranger danger and abductions, experts say, according to the New York Daily News. But its important that parents try not to scare their children with the realities of abduction.

You dont want to reveal more than they are ready to hear, child psychology expert Dr. Lawrence Balter told the Daily News. Start where they are. Dont overwhelm them with things they arent emotionally ready for.

That is to say, dont warn them about real-life scenarios and scary stories. Rather, focus on strategy what to do and where to go if a stranger approaches them alone, according to the Daily News.

Balter told the Daily News that parents should inform their children of red flags signals that a stranger they meet may be more nefarious than they appear, like when strangers ask for help with finding something, the Daily News reported.

Its also important for parents to tell their children where they can go when theyre in trouble, experts told the Daily News.

Tell them what to do in case something happens, child safety expert Debra Holtzman told the Daily News. If they get lost, places they can go: a police station, a firehouse or a library. Or ask a mom with kids for help.

Parenting and education expert Dr. Gail Gross offered some specific strategies children can use to avoid abduction in a piece for The Huffington Post. One of those tips includes The Velcro Technique where children latch onto anything nearby to avoid being taken, Gross wrote.

Make like Velcro: Grab and hold on to something and do not let go, she wrote. Grab a tree, grab a bike, grab a stop sign post, or even grab a different adult because another adult is not usually involved in an abduction. This makes it harder to disengage a child in an attempted abduction.

Theres also the Windmill technique or swimming technique, where children rotate their arms to prevent a stranger from getting a good grip on them.

Gross also wrote that children should try to make a lot of noise to warrant attention from nearby people.

But above all else, Gross suggests parents come up with a family plan something children can do if they ever find themselves in a dangerous scenario that can be practiced and perfected over time.

Remember, above all else, safety first," Gross wrote. "Prevention is the key. Develop a family plan of action for emergency and crisis situation, and practice and rehearse them with your children through role-modeling and role-playing. Teach your children the rules, and give them the confidence they need to be able to follow through on the escape techniques outlined above. If they are involved and invested, children are more likely to remember and take action if someone tries to abduct them. We have to empower our kids to help keep them safe.

Its toxic: New study says blue light from tech devices can speed up blindness
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A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers. - photo by Herb Scribner
It turns out checking Twitter or Facebook before bed is bad for your health.

A new study from the University of Toledo found that blue light from digital devices can transform molecules in your eyes retina into cell killers.

That process can lead to age-related macular degeneration, which is a leading cause of blindness in the United States, according to the researchs extract.

Blue light is a common issue for many modern Americans. Blue light is emitted from screens, most notably at night, causing sleep loss, eye strain and a number of other issues.

Dr. Ajith Karunarathne, assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, said our constant exposure to blue light cant be blocked by the lens or cornea.

"It's no secret that blue light harms our vision by damaging the eye's retina. Our experiments explain how this happens, and we hope this leads to therapies that slow macular degeneration, such as a new kind of eye drop, he said.

Macular degeneration is an incurable eye disease that often affects those in their 50s or 60s. It occurs after the death of photoreceptor cells in the retina. Those cells need retinal to sense light and help signal the brain.

The research team found blue light exposure created poisonous chemical molecules that killed photoreceptor cells

"It's toxic. If you shine blue light on retinal, the retinal kills photoreceptor cells as the signaling molecule on the membrane dissolves," said Kasun Ratnayake, a Ph.D. student researcher working in Karunarathne's cellular photo chemistry group. "Photoreceptor cells do not regenerate in the eye. When they're dead, they're dead for good."

However, the researchers found a molecule called alpha-tocopherol, which comes from Vitamin E, can help prevent cell death, according to Futurism.

The researchers plan to review how light from TVs, cellphones and tablet screens affect the eyes as well.

"If you look at the amount of light coming out of your cellphone, it's not great but it seems tolerable," said Dr. John Payton, visiting assistant professor in the UT Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. "Some cellphone companies are adding blue-light filters to the screens, and I think that is a good idea."

Indeed, Apple released a Night Shift mode two years ago to help quell blue lights strain on the eyes, according to The Verge. The screen will dim into a warmer, orange light that will cause less stress on the eyes.