Maddie.......Who do you blame .....?

[soobet]

Think about this.....We left our three children alone in a hotel room while we went to the pub, the patio doors were open, luckily they never bothered to try and climb the balcony rail. and fall to their death However my three year old got out of bed and was playing with paper and the electrical sockets. She set the room on fire and is now fighting for her life.....

Yes !! thinking what im thinking ?

We would be responsible for this and if the above were true now we would have been arrested.

I cannot begin to imagine why anyone would leave children alone like that any number of things could have happened to those children. The parents are suffering now and my heart goes out to them and the little girl (God Love Her) but they are totally to blame for all this

[Oneeyedvic]

netibiza - I believe the law says that you can leave a child under 16 alone but it is an offence if it puts them at risk. http://www.nspcc.org.uk/helpandadvice/parentsa ndcarers/homealone/homealone_wda35965.html


As you can imagine the law is not black and white and is very open to interpretation. I do not believe that they put the child at risk any more than a standard baby monitoring service available in most reputable hotels offer.

Obviously, it is not my decision as to whether or not they are prosecuted, but I am fairly sure that they wouldn't be.

soobet[or should it be Perry?]netibiza...ty i rest my case... no need to rant when law is on side x what law?

[I.Don No]

The McCann parents did not make a mistake. What they did was deliberate. They were the ones who left the children alone. Parents are responsible for their children 24/7. If the McCann parents were so hungry and thirsty that they had to eat and drink at that time in the evening then they should have gone out one at a time.

Of course, we dont live in a perfect world and that is why they should have thought about the situation before they turned the key in the lock. As the questioner mentioned, anything could have happened to those children without any outside interference.

I was just about to type 'what were those parents thinking' and then I realised what I should be typing is WHY DIDNT THOSE PARENTS THINK BEFORE THEY ACTED?

As in all these situations it is the child who will pay the ultimate price whether she is found alive or not.

I am a parent and a grandparent and I know what it is like to care for children. Until I decided that my children were old enough and well equipped to cope alone I never left them alone. When you have children their well-being is your only priority. What you yourself may want to do only appears on the 'to do' list when your childrens' needs have been met.

No, I am not perfect, I make mistakes. This situation was not a mistake on their part.

My thoughts are with Maddie and I hope that she is safe.

[netibiza]

Pretty much what I remembered - I rest my case. Just hope and pray that Maddie is alive and well, and will be returned to her family very very soon.

[soobet]

ditto

[Reverandfunk]

Vic - I have stepkids yes and as for leaving them alone in their bedroom of course you have to leave them on their own but would you leave a 3 year old unsupervised in the bathroom on their own whilst the bath was running? NO.

The point is the parents left them ALONE which in my book is wilful neglect. Tragic accidents will happen in the home but this should never have happened and is solely down to the parents.

[feebee]

I also blame the parents and wonder if this was the first time they have left their children alone.

[tiggerwoo]

I don't believe this is the first time they have left their children unattended.I'd be willing to bet they've done it many times before and got complacent because they got away with it. Now they have come unstuck and the very worst has happened.We should not as some people say "stop blaming the parents". On the contrary...that is what the parents want us to do. They want us to get carried along in the media frenzy ,fund raising and god knows what else so that we all forget how this terrible thing happened in the first place.If you are in the same house with your children and something dreadful happens beyond your control,then you cannot be to blame. If something happens to your children when you are away in another building eating out with your friends...then you are entirely to blame because you are making it easy for a crime to be commited ie. abduction ,murder. And if not that then you are exposing them to all kinds of other dangers too numerous to mention. If you left your car at the roadside with doors unlocked and the engine running...would you really be surprised if someone drove off with it. OF COURSE NOT!!! The Macanns have commited a criminal offence and lets NOT forget it.

[soobet]

Couldnt have said it better myself ....