Madeleine McCann

[Nikolas]

I'm sorry Quintaros but age is definately an important factor! Of course bad things happen to all ages children (and grown ups), and other dangers appear after the age of 13-14. Smoking, drugs, cars, whatever really. Before that, you just don't have these worries.

But honestly. I have a 3 1/2 year old son.

He speaks 2 languages (greek and english, both at a level to communicate). He knows not to speak to strangers (as far as possible right? If anyone offers chocolate, he WILL go, no matter what!). He has a very strong voice to wake up all the flats around us!

Still.

He can't open the lights
He can't make a phone call to the police or actually have a mind to instead of scream (which he also does with us around, it happens with children you know), to yell "Help. They're hurting me!" or even better "FIRE!" to get everyone involved! (That's a clever trick actually. Never scream "rape". Scream "Fire")
He can't really distunguish yet between good and bad.
He can't read the time

You do understand that the above make a huge difference in any situation, right?

In a normal situation, waking up will panic a 3 year old boy, no matter what (or girl, or 4 year old), when the parents are not around. A 10 year old will... something to do, or maybe call the mobile. He will know that his parents are coming at 23:00 and it's still 22:00, so all is well.

In a difficult situation, unless hit hard, the 10 year old WILL see that something is wrong! WILL understand that he needs to call for help, not simply call!

And so on.

A 4 year old and a 10 year old are NOT the same!

And all this in a hotel room at a new country? come on!

I can see/understand the pain these people must be having and so on, and of course going through "had we done this/that this wouldn't have happened" is not aprticularly helpful, but this is you and me talking, not me talking to them.

to them: May they find their little girl and everything turns up in good turns. Let them have the utmost support from everyone around them.

[Becky]

I'm more disgusted by all these celebrities jumping on the bandwagon to throw cash for a reward.  I can't read it as anything more than a publicity stunt, and if these celebrities are really that philanthropic and caring you'd think they'd be donating the money to charities that help hundreds of families rather than this one.

[Ariadne]

No one should doubt that these parents suffer. But leaving three children alone is extremely dangerous. Lots and lots of things could happen to children when they are left unattended:  they can fall, they can choke on small things or get hurt trying to leave the cradle. The parents showed criminal negligence (and I mean it both literally and as a legal term).

[Jon]

Why didn't they just hire a babysitter?

[SinSin]

Hello my name is Pedro im a Spanish coach driver / Babysitter 
If your on holiday a babysitter really doesnt spring to mind as being one of those things you can pack     but anywho
A babysitter has to be someone you can trust in ... ideally not someone from an ad from the local paper (even if you can read the lingo )
Baby sitter not an option

Remember prevention is better than cure
Click use   
Click Phone
Dial 0 for room service crisis averted   you can simply drink and eat in your room
OR kids meet mr Pram and they sit next to the bar table asleep (ensure its a quiet bar or they wont sleep ) and most european bars dont mind kids being there

Sin

[Jon]

But surely they would have known other people on the resort; from what I have seen on the television, there were many english couples on the resort. They must have had some contact with these people!

[Becky]

The resort supplied a creche facility which the parents decided not to use.

[LimpingFish]

The media circus is rather sickening. Rewards of 1.5 million pounds, celebrity pleadings; it really is all quite ludicrous. Not to sound callous, but the portuguese police chief had a point when he said "Portuguese children go missing too. What is so special about this one child? We'll treat it as serious as we would any other case." I may be paraphrasing slightly, but that was the gist of it.

Sky News keeping a "Madeleine Watch" ("Day 10: Still no news!) is fairly typical of the degree of sensationalism that pervades the modern media mindset. More maps/photos/diagrams means more opportunities for them to use their expensive video wall.

And you just know they'd give their right bollock to be the first on the scene if/when she is found...dead or alive.

Whether they'd prefer one over the other is still up for debate.

[SSH]

I'm sure the parents already hate themselves enough for leaving the kids alone without anyone else even mentioning it. "You should have done X" is not going to help anyone, now, is it, and I'm sure those twins will never EVER be left alone until they're 33 years old.

Also, I understand the desperate desire of parents for a meal out somewhere without the kids. Especially since they had 3 under-four kids. It must be hard work.

On the other hand, I'd never do that. Part of the reason my wife and I are so desperate for nights out is because its so hard to do.

[Andail]

I'm sure the parents already hate themselves enough for leaving the kids alone without anyone else even mentioning it.

It's not only about blaming the parents, it's about steering the debate in the right direction. It's not like people are suggesting that the perpetrator should have his penalty reduced (if he gets caught) just because the parents were neglectful. It should still not be taboo for public media to point out that parents are responsible for their children.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

"Portuguese children go missing too. What is so special about this one child? We'll treat it as serious as we would any other case."

Huh, he said that? I've been really out of the loop, especially so considering it's happened in my own country, but I've always held our police and security force in high regard, and I have to say I admire that response. No-nonsense, to the point, 1st priority being the child as opposed to the publicity.

[LimpingFish]

Like I said, I may be paraphrasing but that was the general message.

I think it came about out of frustration with the media's (mostly UK) onslaught of demands for photofits, investigation details, and masked references to the ineptitude of his police force.

It's a salient point though. Out of all the missing children cases both in the UK and abroad, why is everybody from JK Rowling to David Beckham getting involved in this one?

Authorities have admitted today that they have no suspects, but whether or not this is down to a lack of action on their part or simply an overall lack of evidence remains to be seen.

The parents have now brought in their own team of laywers and legal representitives, though what this will accomplish, other than generating jurisdictional red tape, is currently a mystery.

One thing is certain, in my mind at least.

The parents chose to leave their children alone, rather than in the provided childcare facilities. They weren't forced to do it.

It may not qualify as negligent, but it was certainly irresponsible.