On Friday afternoon, a school bus deposited Hathaway Brown 8th-grader Devon Smith at her home in Westlake, but she never went inside. That evening, she was reported missing. The Westlake and Shaker Heights Police Departments, along with the Hathaway Brown community and concerned neighbors, were all on the case.
Smith’s photo predictably surfaced on Facebook in very short order. It was the smiling face of a girl who looked a lot older than 14, but who’s curly head of hair gave her the aura of certain old-timey Broadway youths.
Police said the disappearance was not officially considered “suspicious.” Nonetheless, everyone was distressed about poor Devon. Social media erupted with appeals for information. (I had friends in New York City posting Devon’s photo and offering their solidarity and prayers.)
Devon was found the following morning hiding beneath a neighbor’s deck. Someone had spotted articles of clothing there and alerted the police. The area had been checked the night before, but residents thought Devon may have been scampering around the neighborhood to avoid being found.
There was no criminal involvement. Police are treating the brief disappearance as a “family issue,” especially after learning that Devon may have been “despondent” because of school matters.
The “outpouring” of support which HB president Bill Christ referenced in a statement of gratitude — don’t get me wrong — was terrific. Good on Hathaway Brown and their network of well-connected alums to spread the word and ensure that no harm came to one of their students.
But something about the story and its immediate media frenzy seemed afoul or out of proportion. Maybe because it came so close on the heels of the photo taken of the Chicago RedEye which highlighted an alarming (but by no means new) bias in the way media covers violence and race.
Devon Smith lives in an affluent, predominantly white suburban neighborhood. She goes to a private school on the other side of town in an equally affluent neighborhood. She is white. She is cute — the curly hair and big smile make her instantly digitally likable.
And though police seemed to intuit early on that the disappearance was non-criminal, the above elements inspired a crazed media response. Just on the off-chance that something tragic had happened.
I’m delighted Devon is home safe and sound; I just wish we were this concerned about the children who run away (out of protest or anger or apathy) in Kinsman and Hough and Central.
There’s also an underlying — and tangential — narrative enmeshed in all this, which might suggest that “running away from home,” isn’t all that bad. Devon Smith was either pouting or nervous about something that happened at school and didn’t want to deal with her parents. Sounds like a lot of 14-year-olds I’ve met.
Even among exceedingly well-behaved children, “running away” has long been a secret desire, even if there’s no direct catalyst. It’s the idea of adventure maybe. If nothing else, it’s a compelling method for testing boundaries — what our parents will allow, how much our own fear will bear, etc.
And here’s that apprehension’s thesis: As parenting becomes increasingly crowd-source-able, relics and stamps of childhood may be increasingly at stake.
This article appears in Mar 6-12, 2013.
Speaking of “media”, I love how Scene attacks the media and then acts like they are not part of the media or the culture. This is a very misleading article, that is making a lot of assumptions, and it seems that Sam isn’t basing anything in this rant on fact. I don’t think the media or really what we need to be talking about is the community looked for this girl because she is white, nice use of the term in your headline btw. What we need to do is jump to conclusions like you do in this article. I’m willing to bet that if this had been a black HB student that went missing; the school’s community would have done the same thing.
When a girl goes missing in Hough or other areas, is it family neglect why it doesn’t get to the media? There are spokespeople in those communities, Art McCoy for one, that do get the media involved. Let’s be realistic, as someone who has had the joy of seeing the HB community in action this last few years as an outsider, the fact of the matter is, you get what you pay for. It had nothing to do about race, but everything to do with a good school looking out for it’s own.
Oh dear, here we go
Sounds like someone is baiting someone else…I move on….
wow your gonna call a race card on this really? If children go missing in any neighborhood and people get the information out there it is passed on. If I see one of the missing kids posts hit my wall I share it. I do not look at the color of the child. First and foremost I am a mother. I would want everyone doing the same for me. Please stop trying to create drama in a world that is already overflowing with it.
Fact, articles on affluent white people will get the headlines. I’m not sure what Sam Allard point are by writting another article on this topic. What’s he basing his following statement on, “I just wish we were this concerned about the children who run away (out of protest or anger or apathy) in Kinsman and Hough and Central.” Who’s not concerned and how did you come up with this statement? What is/isn’t happening and by who that your basing this statement on? What needs to be done so those who “aren’t concerned” meet your level of acceptable concern? Typical general statement by a so called writer trying to get his name out there.
Look at the data, more crimes are committed in urban communities than suburb communities. Because of this rarity, the suburb community will get bigger coverage on the story if a crime occurs. If Sam Allard doesn’t like this, he should tell his employer Scene to start reporting on all run aways in Hough, Kinsman, and Central. Also, his last 3 paragraphs are pointless.
Does anyone else get the feeling that affluent also breeds a little crazy?
Just asking…..
I for one am sick of hearing about how things are different depending on the neighborhood. IN some neighborhoods, a kid being gone for a long time, or not coming home is common.. That is probably why parents don’t report it. Same goes for adults. I am really sick of this reverse discrimination. If you have a loving family (doesn’t matter the color) and a child or adult does somthing out of the norm, then that family will do what has to be done to.
White Hathaway Brown? wtf! what is your point exactly?
Just another lesson on selfish behavior like running away or killing yourself. Don’t just think about how your actions affect you, think about the other people your actions will affect.
it wasn’t necessary to include “white” in the headline. would you have included the word “black” in the headline if the girl was african american? i think not.