Madeleine's Fund : Leaving No Stone Unturned

EagerLearner

I think we are all passionate about it, that's all, because we are all concerned.

I never said the parents were right to not watch them 100% of the time, if there is evidence to prove that they definately went to a pub and were gone for hours and not close by and were definately drunk. Are all those 4 things fact and been proven?

What I did say is that the criminal is the one who has perpetraded the crime, in my eyes, not the poor parents and talk of suing them is just extreme when their suffering must be completely soul destroying at this time. if the criminal wants, they get - whether it's easy or they have to break a door down? If the child is injured, the person who directly injured it is who the judge wants to hear from.

I don't have kids, so I am sitting on the fence here - if I did, like many on here I too would also be keen to show that I am a better parent, would never let it happen to mine, take much more care, not leave them alone etc etc, but I am trying to introduce another point of view - this has happened unintentionally, the parents never meant for it to happen and it is very unfortunate. But there are cases in every country where parents DO mean it to happen, do beat their kids, do abuse them, do not love them - people here seem to be comparing the McCanns to the same type of parents

tesuhoha

Im sorry but I think its very likely that the child is dead by now. In the meantime how much publicity has this had?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/6676509.stm

And is anyone about to set up a reward/fund/minutes silence for her.

RACHIE77

There is a new idea on helping to find Madeleline - tourists who were in the area at the time are being asked to upload their holiday pics. I think its a good move

www.madeleine.ceopupload.com

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6677803.stm

mae

Thanks for that lets hope they gets some clue from them. Fingers crossed.

emmaroids

tesuhoha wrote: »

Im sorry but I think its very likely that the child is dead by now. In the meantime how much publicity has this had?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cambridgeshire/6676509.stm

And is anyone about to set up a reward/fund/minutes silence for her.

very good point.
it all goes back to classes tbh, `us` and `them`.

ms_newbie

I agree that the most important thing is that we are all alert and do whatever we can to help find Madeline.

The actions of her parents can be considered on a few fronts:
Unlike here it is perfectly acceptable to take your kids with you into bars and restaurants (where they could have slept in their buggies).
This couple are fortunate in that they are in respected professions where others are willing to organise support etc. I wonder if the reaction would have been different if it was a single parent that had left his/her children.
In this country their other kids would possibly have been taken into care while the whole situation was looked into.
I know its hard work having 3 little ones but it seems that babysitting services were available so why werent they used?

In the end really none of this matters and we cant turn the clocks back - Madeline is missing, and as a mother of small children I truely hope she is found soon - safe and well. I'm sure the torture her parents have been through will live with them longer than any official punishment.

My thoughts go from anger to despair on this one and she's not my kid. I pray that she is found soon.

Lifeisbutadream

RACHIE77 wrote: »

in fact they were in a BAR (yes a bar, not a restaurant)

A tapas bar is a restaurant - it sells spanish tapas, which is spanish snacks.

RACHIE77

Lifeisbutadream wrote: »

A tapas bar is a restaurant - it sells spanish tapas, which is spanish snacks.

Yeah I know that - sorry, I was just told they were in a bar, not a Tapas bar, with a big sign saying "bar" over the door, maybe I just mis-interpreted the information - ooops

BWZN93

EagerLearner wrote: »

I think we are all passionate about it, that's all, because we are all concerned.

I never said the parents were right to not watch them 100% of the time, if there is evidence to prove that they definately went to a pub and were gone for hours and not close by and were definately drunk. Are all those 4 things fact and been proven?

What I did say is that the criminal is the one who has perpetraded the crime, in my eyes, not the poor parents and talk of suing them is just extreme when their suffering must be completely soul destroying at this time. if the criminal wants, they get - whether it's easy or they have to break a door down? If the child is injured, the person who directly injured it is who the judge wants to hear from.

I don't have kids, so I am sitting on the fence here - if I did, like many on here I too would also be keen to show that I am a better parent, would never let it happen to mine, take much more care, not leave them alone etc etc, but I am trying to introduce another point of view - this has happened unintentionally, the parents never meant for it to happen and it is very unfortunate. But there are cases in every country where parents DO mean it to happen, do beat their kids, do abuse them, do not love them - people here seem to be comparing the McCanns to the same type of parents

Regardless of the person who actually commited the crime, the parents are no better. They allowed their children to be alone when a great number of dangers could befall them. Abduction was probably least of the concerns, however, their actions shows them to be truly unconcerned, preferring to spend time socialising rather than ensuring their children are safe from harm. This is abuse - leaving children so young to fend for themselves while the parents go to happy hour with no foresight AT ALL of the possible consequnces?? They now stand before us all teary eyed in the media spotlight while people set up funds and hold a minutes silence etc. They cant be sued for this, they should be prosecuted.

I personally feel its verging on the rediculous. We have two negligent middle class parents, and the media cant help but fall over themselves with fluffy little paragraphs of parental anguish. Others on here are completely right, this is totally about class - single parents would have been crucified by now. Various newspapers over the years have screamed headlines about bad parents and their neglect when leaving a 10yr home alone to nip to the shop for bog roll and the kid manages to burn the house down etc, but there seems to be no comparable backlash against them from the usual sources. Instead, take a look at any newspaper website and there are 'support boards' etc, where the so inclined can leave heartwarming messages of support. Im sorry - when did it become ok to leave your 3 toddler children alone while you go off boozing and partying just because you are middle class??

We have today had reports that an 11yr old gone missing and the media barely pays attention. Many thousands of cases exist where an under 18 has gone missing, most likely forever, and how many of us really care? How many people really look out on the buses of our cities for that 14yr old girl who went missing 10 months ago? What press coverage is there for those people, except for missing persons sites and the occassional tiny poster shoved on a far wall of Tesco for all but the observant to see?

For those who wish to make (somewhat strange) comparisons, it might be worth noting that no one has suggested that their eyes never leave their children. (for one thing, they'd die of sleep deprivation within a few weeks :rolleyes: ). What is at discussion here is the INTENT. The McCann's obviously must have considered what to do with the children, and decided to 1) leave them in favour of socialising, and 2) leave them alone.

The parents that have been discussed in the media previously who have met criteria 1 & 2 have been absolutley dragged through the mud - even when the circumstances are less extreme than in this case. Here they have not, even when the parents (given the Dr status) could be considered to be above average in intelligence. (Clearly lacking in common sense but hey, no one's perfect.) In any case, this was just plain idiocy and this is why so many people are actually doing the reporting themselves on various websites, it seems there is a large public opinion that the parents are irresponsible and the media has failed to reflect it.


Anyway, as for keeping our eyes open, those of us who live in the UK may as well not bother. It is extremely unlikely she is in the UK. Its too risky for anyone to bring her within any distance of any type of authority on the lookout. If she is outside Portugal, then she will have been taken backstreets and car boots - i.e with as little possible chance of being spotted to someplace where the immigration controls are virtually non existent on a border crossing.

Chin up though - Natascha Kampusch escaped after being with her kidnapper for 8yrs. There is always hope, even in the most unlikely circumstances.

Jo x

EagerLearner

jw1096 wrote: »

Regardless of the person who actually commited the crime, the parents are no better[...]They cant be sued for this, they should be prosecuted.

I don't think you can say 'regardless of the person who actually commited the crime' in this scenario?? It was an unfortunate event and the parents may have been reckless but there was no intent by the parents that she be kidnapped or killed. There was /is intent by the criminal who has her. They left the kids which was wrong, but only for a relatively short period of time (and being monitored by other parents), whereas in the past other parents in the media have for example left the kids completely on their own for weeks whilst going on holiday, negligence on a far more serious scale.

I think the media have spoon fed the public with what the public wants to hear, and now - as this post demonstrates - the media and some of the public will start to turn on them and pick them apart limb by limb until every morsel of news coverage has been picked off them / discussed / morally commented on / criticized.

I am sure when they get back to the UK there will be no end to more and more coverage, so much more discussion and commentary to come.

I think having this post is healthy discussion because otherwise the media would have complete control on what we think and at least I hope we are all trying to think for ourselves on here.