Traveler Shares The Creative Way People Find Lost Children On The Beach In Brazil — ‘I Wish We Had This In The U.S.’
LeManna | Shutterstock A traveler found himself 'confused' when everyone started clapping on the beach he was visiting in Brazil, before learning the clever way they use clapping to find lost children.
A missing child at the beach can be especially scary, where there’s usually a ton of people around, not to mention a giant ocean. Even though this problem has pretty much existed forever, it seems like no one has come up with a solid solution — at least not in the U.S.
In Brazil, it’s a different story. When children get lost on the beach, their parents can typically find them pretty easily. It’s all thanks to a clever idea that gets everyone around them involved and causes quite the ruckus in the process. It left one traveler thinking that this is definitely a tip we should take from our Brazilian friends and implement in America.
Beach-goers in Brazil clap when there is a missing child.
Applause is not something that is often associated with the beach, but for Brazilians, it’s just become normal by now. A TikToker known as Your Pal Kev shared a video on the app featuring dozens of beachgoers lounging in chairs, huddled under umbrellas, all clapping.
“Brazil has a smart and creative way to find lost children at the beach,” Kev explained. “Once a parent reports a missing child, everyone nearby starts clapping. This alerts everyone to help locate the child and reunite them with their parent. Add this to the list of cool things I’ve experienced in Brazil that I wish we had in the U.S.”
According to Islands.com writer Waverly Colville, Kev had the gist of the idea down, but it actually happens slightly differently than he described. Instead of the parent searching for their child by having everyone clap, which would probably just create more chaos, it’s actually the people near the lost kid who will clap. This helps their parents find where they are.
Apparently, this idea has taken hold across South America.
Colville said that in a since-deleted Reddit thread, commenters shared that this method was also used to find lost children on beaches in Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay.
Another content creator, @nicknobrasil_ on Instagram, also shared the bright idea in a reel he posted. There, one person left a comment saying that they had seen this happen at the busy Carnival festival too, meaning it’s making its way well beyond the beach.
“One Reddit user even speculated that because clapping is a common thing to do, it doesn’t overdramatize the situation and scare the child while being able to effectively signal to the parents that their child is safe and waiting for them,” Colville added.
There’s no similar system for missing kids at the beach in the U.S.
Even the most diligent parent could easily lose track of their kid at the beach. There are so many people, everyone seems to be moving in different directions, and kids naturally want to run off and play. According to Abigail Tucker from the Baltimore Sun, a resort beach in Ocean City, Maryland, that stretches for ten miles could have 100 kids get lost in just one day during “high season.”
Kindel Media | Pexels
Like me, you’ve probably been at the beach before when a child has gone missing, and a lifeguard blew their whistle to get everyone out of the water while they sort of just helplessly looked around. Ocean City had a better plan. There, lifeguards waved orange flags spelling out the child’s name, age, and swimsuit color so the crew chief could see.
It’s not a bad idea, but sometimes the simplest method is actually the best. Plus, wouldn’t it be good to get as many people involved in the rescue effort as possible? It just seems like there’s something incredibly logical about what people do on the beach in Brazil, and we could really benefit from trying it out.
Mary-Faith Martinez is a writer with a bachelor’s degree in English and Journalism who covers news, psychology, lifestyle, and human interest topics.
