Critical Amber Alert

[MolsonInBothHands]

Originally Posted by Jiri Hrdina

OK but neither of those are what political correctness is.
I just find people trot that out willy nilly.
Moving on...

I find that to be a derogatory use of the word willy. Willies need to stand up against this oppression.

[corporatejay]

Silver is okay being disturbed in the middle of the night for:

1) Emergencies with his business
2) Emergencies with his his mom.


Silver is NOT okay with being disturbed by:

1) Emergencies that impact other people.


This is selfish, not much else to say.

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Silver is okay being disturbed in the middle of the night for:

1) Emergencies with his business
2) Emergencies with his his mom.


Silver is NOT okay with being disturbed by:

1) Emergencies that impact other people.


This is selfish, not much else to say.

Man looks out for his family, first and foremost.

More news at 11

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Hey this is great, we have a mental health professional here. Could I come to your office with my daughter for a second opinion on the strategies we've been using? I haven't heard of this exposure therapy thing you're promoting for anxious children. Maybe you're right, perhaps it is time to educate her on the hard realities of life.

So should I just have a sit down with her tonight - I'll be sure to let her know she's more than old enough for the conversation (she'll love the insinuation that there's something wrong with her if the conversation bothers her) - and talk to her about abductions, and Amber Alerts, and how time is of the essence to finding a kidnapped kid before the really bad stuff happens? What bad stuff she'll ask? Oh, you know, rape, murder, torture. All the good stuff!

BTW, I don't want her receiving Amber Alerts at any time of the day. Her phone isn't on (or even in her room) at night because we're not completely idiotic.

Your advice is comically terrible and you're totally ignorant about this issue.

I'm not telling not telling you how to raise your child. I didn't mean to direct my general opinion in your specific direction. I will apologize for that.

instead of 13 year old and pointing it towards you, I should have said young teenager.

so not necessarily your child, but what's wrong with educating a teenager about Amber alerts? not like a person would have to go into graphic detail.

kids are taught about abduction, inappropriate touching and stranger danger from a young age. I don't know why having them aware of and understanding amber alerts would be a big deal.

[WhiteTiger]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

I'm not telling not telling you how to raise your child. I didn't mean to direct my general opinion in your specific direction. I will apologize for that.

instead of 13 year old and pointing it towards you, I should have said young teenager.

so not necessarily your child, but what's wrong with educating a teenager about Amber alerts? not like a person would have to go into graphic detail.

kids are taught about abduction, inappropriate touching and stranger danger from a young age. I don't know why having them aware of and understanding amber alerts would be a big deal.

That's kind of what I was thinking. By 9-13, they likely have a pretty good idea of everything Sliver mentioned just from the tv they consume (though possibly/hopefully not rape) and a parent should have had a conversation or two with them about that kind of stuff. Especially abduction. Along with puberty, comes more "grown up" topics and things to watch out for too.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Silver is okay being disturbed in the middle of the night for:

1) Emergencies with his business
2) Emergencies with his his mom.


Silver is NOT okay with being disturbed by:

1) Emergencies that impact other people.


This is selfish, not much else to say.

Silver is okay with keeping a cat in his garage. Nothing else really matters.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

I'm not telling not telling you how to raise your child. I didn't mean to direct my general opinion in your specific direction. I will apologize for that.

instead of 13 year old and pointing it towards you, I should have said young teenager.

so not necessarily your child, but what's wrong with educating a teenager about Amber alerts? not like a person would have to go into graphic detail.

kids are taught about abduction, inappropriate touching and stranger danger from a young age. I don't know why having them aware of and understanding amber alerts would be a big deal.

No problem at all, man.

I think most kids can handle Amber Alerts without issue. My 11-year-old son is just fine with this kind of thing.

I don't think Amber Alerts need to be disabled for everyone. I would like the option to disable them for my daughter, and for 8 hours at night for me, that's all.

[Makarov]

Originally Posted by Sliver

No problem at all, man.

I think most kids can handle Amber Alerts without issue. My 11-year-old son is just fine with this kind of thing.

I don't think Amber Alerts need to be disabled for everyone. I would like the option to disable them for my daughter, and for 8 hours at night for me, that's all.

I think the issue is that if this were a widely-available option, many people would do it which would totally frustrate the purpose of the amber alert system.

[pepper24]

Came to thread hoping and expecting most replies would be "Good that kids are safe and no issue getting them at any hour of the day. Keep them coming."

Disappointing and embarrassing times we live in.

Keep them coming. Kids went missing in Fox Creek area and were found in Sylvan Lake. That's nearly 4 hours and 400 km away. An hour later they could have been in Calgary. Provincial wide is definitely warranted and glad that the kids are safe.

[woob]

The way some people are going on about the AA makes it seem like these are coming in every other day. How many have we had in the province in the last 6 months? 2? 3?

[GordonBlue]

Originally Posted by Sliver

No problem at all, man.

I think most kids can handle Amber Alerts without issue. My 11-year-old son is just fine with this kind of thing.

I don't think Amber Alerts need to be disabled for everyone. I would like the option to disable them for my daughter, and for 8 hours at night for me, that's all.

thanks. I really didn't mean offense.

unrelated, I'm probably not fully understanding the issue people can have with having their sleep interrupted.
I can fall asleep at the drop off a hat, so it's hard to imagine what it would be like to be startled awake and then unable to get back to bed.

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by corporatejay

Silver is okay being disturbed in the middle of the night for:

1) Emergencies with his business
2) Emergencies with his his mom.


Silver is NOT okay with being disturbed by:

1) Emergencies that impact other people.


This is selfish, not much else to say.

topfiverecords is NOT okay with being disturbed by:

1) Emergencies with his business
2) Emergencies with his his mom.
3) Emergencies that impact other people.

[Swarly]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

...
I can fall asleep at the drop off a hat, so it's hard to imagine what it would be like to be startled awake and then unable to get back to bed.

This is me, fall asleep fast and not much short of armageddon, perhaps not even that, will wake me. I lived in Bankview a couple years and then Kensington on Memorial Drive for years after. You either learn to not be disturbed during sleep or you don't sleep. Once in Cuba I slept thru the hotel fire alarm going off during the night, didn't learn about it til my travel companions talked about being woken up for a couple hours during the night, joke was on those suckers as the place didn't burn down and I'm still alive.

So personally I could care less about these alerts coming in, but I get the frustration by people who don't want the alert to disrupt them at all. Makes sense to me to be able to disable it for a time or when your phone is on DND. I mean realistically, if you are not wanting to be disturbed (sleeping, just want to zone out, whatever) and this alert comes in what do you really see happening? Someone who didn't want to be bothered gets a blaring alarm screaming at them will they A) diligently read the alert, look at relevant info, description, area and think back on their day, or more likely B) see its an AA, not a fire raging or city flooding, they need to do nothing about it and swipe it away and get back to their solid zoning out.

I don't see that giving people the ability to opt out (at least at certain times) would hurt the system at all, when those people are likely not even reading the alert anyway. Is there any way to track if people click on the link and read the report details or just click okay and get back to playing candy crush?

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by GordonBlue

unrelated, I'm probably not fully understanding the issue people can have with having their sleep interrupted.
I can fall asleep at the drop off a hat.

Not unrelated at all. If I get woken up in the middle of the night, I can sometimes spend hours trying to go back to sleep. Especially if I'm more than 3 hours into the sleep. That's the reason I live deep in the burbs, and also why I moved within my community- to get away from Stoney. For me that is why I'd like things like AAs to follow my DND settings. Something that is putting the entire area in danger like a wildfire, tornado, or sour gas leak (each far more likely than the previous nuclear meteorites) should still sound.

So that's why I'd like to have levels of alerts, and have the "not impacting 1000s of people" alerts follow the DND rules.

Prior to cell phones, we had TV alerts that would only appear if you were watching TV, and if something really bad like a tornado was coming, the air raid siren would go off. The main reasons why a cell system was needed is we got rid of the air raid sirens, and fewer people watch live TV or radio.

I don't want to just switch off my phone in case of a family emergency. All of my friends' kids have my number, and vice versa. And in the past I have had an emergency late night call from a friend's kid. Actually twice in the last 15 years; now that I think about it.

However on the flip side- "3 hours of sleep Ken" is far more likely to be in a car crash the next morning than if I had 6 hours.

I will agree that wanting some teaks to the system is a tiny bit selfish. But I don't think it make Sliver, myself et al monsters. However I also contend that I have made the people close to me a little safer. Same with Sliver and his mom. She may not want to (in her mind) abuse the 911 system because she doesn't feel right, but would be comfortable calling her favourite son.

[powderjunkie]

Originally Posted by Sliver

My daughter has had a phone since she was nine. She's never lost it, never scratched it, and it looked brand new for the three years she had it until we upgraded her last September to a newer phone. The fact that she's responsible enough to own a phone has literally nothing whatsoever to do with the fact that she's a worrier. That's not a counterpoint at all. There's no connection.

I love how some of you are displaying no empathy whatsoever for my concerns or my daughter's well being, while at the same time berating me for having no empathy.

This just seems like an awfully narrow sliver of information that you are worried about controlling...do you have other methods to prevent her from receiving this type of info via other channels (News apps, etc.)? Or is it the air raid siren alert that is exacerbating the issue?

IMO, being able to opt out of the system is not the best solution here. What is wrong with the following:

Presidential/Level 1= current alert sound overriding DND/silence mode - Imminent threat to mass population (incoming missile, tornado, fire, flood, etc.)
Level 2 = a more moderate alarm sound (ideally that gradually increases in volume and intensity like a lot of alarm sounds do - still difficult to ignore, but less likely to make you crash your car or startle you awake) - Imminent threat to individual lives (Amber alerts)

I think there is room to debate whether level 2 should respect DND or phone silence settings or not (I'd lean to yes - these people will still see the alert within a reasonable amount of time)

Spitballing here, but I'd suggest that level 1 information would reach 99% of users in proximity to their phones within 1 minute.
Level 2 information would reach 90-95% of users in proximity to their phones within 5 minutes (obviously significantly less in the middle of the night if DND is respected, but it would still be the first thing they see when they wake up).

IMO this would mitigate both the 'cry wolf' issue and most other potential 'harms' from the alert system without significantly compromising its benefits...(I actually think it would maximize the long term efficacy of the system).

[peter12]

It is actually insane to me that someone would make such a big deal over being woken up for 5 seconds by an Amber Alert.

Insane.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by ken0042

Not unrelated at all. If I get woken up in the middle of the night, I can sometimes spend hours trying to go back to sleep. Especially if I'm more than 3 hours into the sleep. That's the reason I live deep in the burbs, and also why I moved within my community- to get away from Stoney. For me that is why I'd like things like AAs to follow my DND settings. Something that is putting the entire area in danger like a wildfire, tornado, or sour gas leak (each far more likely than the previous nuclear meteorites) should still sound.

So that's why I'd like to have levels of alerts, and have the "not impacting 1000s of people" alerts follow the DND rules.

Prior to cell phones, we had TV alerts that would only appear if you were watching TV, and if something really bad like a tornado was coming, the air raid siren would go off. The main reasons why a cell system was needed is we got rid of the air raid sirens, and fewer people watch live TV or radio.

I don't want to just switch off my phone in case of a family emergency. All of my friends' kids have my number, and vice versa. And in the past I have had an emergency late night call from a friend's kid. Actually twice in the last 15 years; now that I think about it.

However on the flip side- "3 hours of sleep Ken" is far more likely to be in a car crash the next morning than if I had 6 hours.

I will agree that wanting some teaks to the system is a tiny bit selfish. But I don't think it make Sliver, myself et al monsters. However I also contend that I have made the people close to me a little safer. Same with Sliver and his mom. She may not want to (in her mind) abuse the 911 system because she doesn't feel right, but would be comfortable calling her favourite son.

This is how I envision what would happen if I somehow turned off the Amber Alerts so I could sleep.

Me: "Mom, it's 3AM, what's wrong??"
Mom"There was a loud noise coming from my phone"
Me: "That's just an Amber Alert"
Mom"What's it about?"
Me: "I don't know, I disabled them so I could sleep".
Mom: "Oh, okay. So how is everybody doing?"

But still, lets appeal to empathy here - one of your kids is going to the library after school and you're expecting them home at 8PM. They don't come home. You have 5 hours worth of distance that could be travelled by car. Potential witnesses are also maybe 5+ hours away. So how would you propose that this gets handled?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by peter12

It is actually insane to me that someone would make such a big deal over being woken up for 5 seconds by an Amber Alert.

Insane.

There are people - that when awoken - cannot fall back to sleep. I'm one of them. Sounds like Ken is one of them. I think others have chimed in, too. If you woke me up for five seconds, I wouldn't care. If you wake me up at 3 a.m., I'm up for the day on very little sleep. It's why I use DND. There's no such thing as waking me up for five seconds. I sleep with earplugs and blackout blinds to minimize my chances of being disturbed, but the Amber Alerts wake me up every single time.

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by powderjunkie

This just seems like an awfully narrow sliver of information that you are worried about controlling...do you have other methods to prevent her from receiving this type of info via other channels (News apps, etc.)? Or is it the air raid siren alert that is exacerbating the issue?

IMO, being able to opt out of the system is not the best solution here. What is wrong with the following:

Presidential/Level 1= current alert sound overriding DND/silence mode - Imminent threat to mass population (incoming missile, tornado, fire, flood, etc.)
Level 2 = a more moderate alarm sound (ideally that gradually increases in volume and intensity like a lot of alarm sounds do - still difficult to ignore, but less likely to make you crash your car or startle you awake) - Imminent threat to individual lives (Amber alerts)

I think there is room to debate whether level 2 should respect DND or phone silence settings or not (I'd lean to yes - these people will still see the alert within a reasonable amount of time)

Spitballing here, but I'd suggest that level 1 information would reach 99% of users in proximity to their phones within 1 minute.
Level 2 information would reach 90-95% of users in proximity to their phones within 5 minutes (obviously significantly less in the middle of the night if DND is respected, but it would still be the first thing they see when they wake up).

IMO this would mitigate both the 'cry wolf' issue and most other potential 'harms' from the alert system without significantly compromising its benefits...(I actually think it would maximize the long term efficacy of the system).

I think that goes a super long way to addressing the concerns I have.

[DownhillGoat]

Originally Posted by Sliver

There are people - that when awoken - cannot fall back to sleep. I'm one of them. Sounds like Ken is one of them. I think others have chimed in, too. If you woke me up for five seconds, I wouldn't care. If you wake me up at 3 a.m., I'm up for the day on very little sleep. It's why I use DND. There's no such thing as waking me up for five seconds. I sleep with earplugs and blackout blinds to minimize my chances of being disturbed, but the Amber Alerts wake me up every single time.

I'm with you. Usually takes me an hour or two to fall asleep. There's no such thing as being woken up for only 5 minutes in the middle of the night to me.