Missing (game)
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Missing is an educational classroom computer game developed in 1999 for the purpose of teaching children ages 9-15 about the dangers of online chatting with strangers.
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[edit] Plot Synopsis
In the beginning of the game, we follow the protagonist, Zachary Taylor, as he begins to form a troubling and suspicious online relationship with an online "photographer" whom his father later finds out about after searching his sons computer after he comes home to find him missing.
The father, after reading the email on his son's computer later finds out that his only son had been secretly telling the online alias, known only as "Fantasma" about his feelings of neglect from his father, and loneliness from his mother not being around after she took a six week job in Kenya. The rest of the game is then told through games and difficult puzzles which the player must decode to tell the dark story of "Fantasma".
As the game progresses, we later learn that Zachary has left his home in Vancouver, Canada and fled to San Diego with Fantasma. We later learn that "Fantasma" is a pedophile, who, while it is never explicitly said in the game, is implied to have kidnapped children he finds on the beach or elsewhere, taken pornographic pictures of them, and sold them over the internet. The rest of the game focuses on finding Fantasma after he has betrayed Zachary and kidnapped him, before it is too late.
[edit] Public Reaction
The public reaction to this game was generally positive as district Attorney Cruz was so impressed with how receptive and attentive the students were to this game, that he contacted the developer of the program, Drew Ann Wake of LiveWires Design. He inquired as to how this program could be made available to schools throughout Plymouth County.
On April 23, 2002, District Attorney Tim Cruz conducted two workshops to introduce the program to D.A.R.E. Officers, and School Administrators across Plymouth County. The workshops were filled to capacity, and the response was positive.
School Administrators from the Brockton Public School System were extremely impressed with the workshop. They immediately began implementation of the "Missing" program. With assistance from the District Attorney’s staff, they conducted trainings for their administrators and teachers. On September 23, 2002, The Brockton Public School System became the first to incorporate the program into their formal school curriculum.
[edit] Gameplay and Legal Aspects
The "Missing" game is broken up into 6 episodes. After the third episode, the classroom instructor has the opportunity to engage in a dialog with the students. This fifteen-minute activity teaches the students that they must take some responsibility for protecting themselves while on the Internet.
The activity takes place at the halfway point in the “Missing” Game, after Episode 3. Zack has quarreled with his father and, in a fit of anger, he has decided to leave home. Fantasma has picked Zack up at the Canadian border and headed back to San Diego.
The Legal Dilemma asks the students to put themselves in the shoes of a police officer at the Canadian border in 1999. If they had arrested Fantasma, could they have charged him with a crime? During the activity, the students explore Canadian laws on kidnapping, abduction, credit card fraud and child pornography at the time of Zack’s disappearance, in September of 1999.
During the discussion, the students learn that if they had arrested Fantasma while he was crossing the Canadian border, he could not have been prosecuted. Fantasma has carefully arranged to transfer the criminal responsibility for his activities to Zack and his father. The goal of the discussion is for the students to realize that predators "frame" children while protecting themselves.
