How sad we live in an age when young girls such as Milly can disappear on a short walk home.

We form Neighbourhood Watch schemes to protect our property yet our children seem to be in danger from the paedophiliac society we have allowed to be created around us.

Little girls posture and preen, as scantily clad as whores, and we wonder why an increasing number of men do not seem to be able to keep their hands off them.

What can we do? How can we protect the children?

One simple way would be to create a sort of Child Watch scheme, where older women in particular, on their walks or a day out with friends, would take responsibility for keeping an eye open for any children they see, taking just a moment to notice whether the child seems in any danger or not.

I'm not talking about necessarily "having a go" because I know from experience how frightening the threat of physical violence can be for a woman. But there are many mobile phones about with which to make a quick 999 call and there are some very kind and helpful men around too.

We no longer live in a stable society where we know our neighbourhood and recognise strangers.

Strangers move in next door every day of the week. We need to care about our neighbours' children because, in spite of anything Margaret Thatcher said, we need to be a society. Society is a very good thing.

If people do not care about each other, they become cold and dark inside. Without the relationships society brings we would die of loneliness. Without the children, we become extinct.

If I were the mother of young children today, I would love to know that a relay of mature women was keeping a collective eye on my kids when they went to the shops or walked home.

Or are we really nothing more than brain-dead consumers who would rather see a child defiled than raise ourselves from our complacent greediness?

-Jacqueline daCosta, Clarendon Villas, Hove