“It’s the most horrible thing that can ever happen to a parent. It changes your life. You face your fears like you never faced them before. You have to become proactive–do something, anything!–or you’ll get totally defeated by it.”

The speaker is Mark Klaas, the father of Polly Klaas, the 12 year-old girl who was kidnapped and killed in the mid-1990’s. Mr. Klaas has become the leading spokesman and activist in the field of preventing such tragedies–and catching and punishing the perpetrators in cases where the crime could not be prevented. He formed the Klaas Kids Foundation which, in partnership with Court TV, has already digitally fingerprinted and created photo files of over 8,000 children around the country.

Court TV’s popular Mobile Investigative Unit has wrapped up a 20-City nationwide tour at the Children’s Museum of Manhattan by unveiling an unprecedented high school forensics curriculum, created in partnership with Klaas Kids. “While the level of science education in this country is unsatisfactory, forensic education is practically nonexistent,” said Tom Bohan, a spokesman from the American Academy of Forensic Science, which played a significant part in developing the curriculum. “So this is a significant step in the right direction, something we’re really proud to be a part of.”

The curriculum, called “truly high-class,” by Bohan, indeed includes the teaching of the latest scientific developments, including DNA analysis, fingerprinting, analysis of hair samples, footprint casting, fiber comparisons, digital imaging, and all other imaginable avenues of investigative techniques and forensic technology. It comes with high quality instructional materials as well. But how to get the word out to science teachers?

“That is our task,” said Dr. Gerald Wheeler from the National Science Teachers Association. “We are holding a Forensic Education Conference on October 25-27 for high school science teachers from all over the country. We have 53,000 members devoted to teaching science. And this wonderful new curriculum will be our featured topic.”

“This is the ideal time to embark on this new curriculum,” said Klaas. “The current rash of high-profile child kidnappings has brought increased attention to this national problem–and it indeed demands the formation of creative partnerships between private and governmental institutions. So the involvement of a major media corporation–such as Court TV–is huge.”

“Increased attention leads to better education,” added Klaas. “In fact, we are already seeing some results. I submit to you that without the focus upon the Van Damme, Elizabeth Short, and Samantha Runyon cases, we would not have found those two young teenage girls alive in California. The Sheriff’s Department there simply would not have known what to do, at least not at the incredibly high level they operated in that case.”

So it’s quite clear: “better education will inevitably lead to greater safety.”#