Madeleine McCann allegedly abducted in Portugal (2) The press apologise.

[Stormy]

"Unlikely"....how do you know?????? What an awful thing to say...yes it is now four weeks since Madeleine was abducted but that does not necessarily mean that the family have to start grieving....

 

The outcome you post is too awful to think of. The parents would not be out there making sure the media kept this high profile if they had any such thoughts that Madeleine would not be coming home alive.

 

If we all - including the parents - gave up hope in the way you have then this would be a very sad world.

 

Unless we are told differently that little girl is alive and just unable, at this present time, to be with her parents......harbingers of doom do not help this situation one little bit.

 

I think LibertyBell was just being realistic, tragic as that prospect may seem. No-one is saying they should give up, but with every day that passes there seems less chance of a happy outcome to this sorry affair.

[Ms Macbeth]

It all very well for postees to apportion blame...but this isn't the time to do that...surely the main priority is to find Madeleine. Her parents must be the first to realise that they did something wrong and whatever the outcome they will probably punish themselves for the rest of their lives.

 

And can ALL of us lay our hands on our hearts and say that our parenting skills have been above reproach...I for one have made mistakes - only not the type that lead to front page news.

 

All I can say here is LET HE WHO IS WITHOUT SIN CAST THE FIRST STONE.

 

The only objective at this time is to find the little girl. And ONLY once that has been done can the other issues be looked at, if indeed they need to be.

 

I would like to echo the above, the priority IS to find the child - thanks julado for the timely reminder. I think everyone would agree that the parents shouldn't have left the children, but I don't think we need to keep harping on about it.

[LibertyBell]

"Unlikely"....how do you know?????? What an awful thing to say...yes it is now four weeks since Madeleine was abducted but that does not necessarily mean that the family have to start grieving....

 

The outcome you post is too awful to think of. The parents would not be out there making sure the media kept this high profile if they had any such thoughts that Madeleine would not be coming home alive.

 

If we all - including the parents - gave up hope in the way you have then this would be a very sad world.

 

Unless we are told differently that little girl is alive and just unable, at this present time, to be with her parents......harbingers of doom do not help this situation one little bit.

 

 

I know it's not the politically correct thing to say, but can you think of another situation like this where the child has been found alive after 4 weeks? We all hope that every child remians safe but the facts don't give us much room for hope in this particular case.

[Stormy]

I would like to echo the above, the priority IS to find the child - thanks julado for the timely reminder. I think everyone would agree that the parents shouldn't have left the children, but I don't think we need to keep harping on about it.

 

But its an important part of the debate. If we cant discuss the rights and wrongs of that then what is the thread open for? So we can all express our sorrow? I seriously doubt that the McCanns have an account on SF so its not like theyre going to be offended by anything that anyone says. I also dont think they'd give a damn considering what theyre going through.

The more it is discussed (and I dont mean in a needlessly nasty, vindictive way towards the McCanns) then the more likely it will be that (hopefully) no other parents will make the same mistake.

[julado]

But its an important part of the debate. If we cant discuss the rights and wrongs of that then what is the thread open for? So we can all express our sorrow? I seriously doubt that the McCanns have an account on SF so its not like theyre going to be offended by anything that anyone says. I also dont think they'd give a damn considering what theyre going through.

The more it is discussed (and I dont mean in a needlessly nasty, vindictive way towards the McCanns) then the more likely it will be that (hopefully) no other parents will make the same mistake.

 

Unfortunately the sad part about this is that it WILL happen again, all of us run risks in our lives and the majority of us think "it won't happen to me". How many times do we read, watch media reports where the first thing said is I thought this was something that ONLY happened to other people!!..

 

If the McCann's had thought for one moment that abduction was a remote possibility then I hope they would have looked for a more suitable alternative than they did. We can all make judgement in hindsight but they are not the only parents that have left their child and they won't be the last. And I cannot pass judgement on them because as a child I was left on my own on holiday (can anyone remember Butlin's.....baby crying in chalet service???) and I in turn have left my child (and for that I am not proud...it is just that thankfully nothing untoward happened to my child and it did not come to the attention of the media).

 

It not about offence or damnation....its purely about finding a little girl who is not with her parents.

[bagger]

But its an important part of the debate. If we cant discuss the rights and wrongs of that then what is the thread open for? So we can all express our sorrow? I seriously doubt that the McCanns have an account on SF so its not like theyre going to be offended by anything that anyone says. I also dont think they'd give a damn considering what theyre going through.

The more it is discussed (and I dont mean in a needlessly nasty, vindictive way towards the McCanns) then the more likely it will be that (hopefully) no other parents will make the same mistake.

 

There's nothing to be debated though is there.

Once we've all established that they made a mistake then why can't people leave it alone???

[bagger]

Unfortunately the sad part about this is that it WILL happen again, all of us run risks in our lives and the majority of us think "it won't happen to me". How many times do we read, watch media reports where the first thing said is I thought this was something that ONLY happened to other people!!..

 

If the McCann's had thought for one moment that abduction was a remote possibility then I hope they would have looked for a more suitable alternative than they did. We can all make judgement in hindsight but they are not the only parents that have left their child and they won't be the last. And I cannot pass judgement on them because as a child I was left on my own on holiday (can anyone remember Butlin's.....baby crying in chalet service???) and I in turn have left my child (and for that I am not proud...it is just that thankfully nothing untoward happened to my child and it did not come to the attention of the media).

 

It not about offence or damnation....its purely about finding a little girl who is not with her parents.

 

Totally agree.

 

There was a thread on this forum last night about some drunken women shouting at and belting their BABIES. Has anything been done to protect those kids?

This type of behaviour isn't rare. You've only got to walk about some parts of town and see women and men shouting in the faces of their kids. Some people just seem to spew anger and venom over their children. Nothing is ever done about this.

While I was on a bus that pulled up outside Wilkinsons in town I saw a woman bend down so that her face was about 2 inches from her todder and she screamed in her face ' I told you not to f***ing drop that'. Not one person said a thing. I didn't either but I was on the bus.

For all we know that very woman has been on this thread calling the McCanns for leaving their kids that evening.

[Kingmaker2]

I cannot believe some of the things which have been said.The mccanns are suffering a GREAT loss at the moment and for people to be basically saying that THEY are suffering because of the constant media attention(which lets face it is EXACTLY what some of you are trying to put forward) is beyond bloody belief!!!!!!!!!!!!!.But the argument keeps boiling down to the issue of "well why not for ALL the missing children?" Well you would REALLY be suffering then wouldn't you.This isn't ENTERTAINMENT,its a real time tragedy and until this little girl is found it will be with us.LIKE IT OR NOT.

 

I think you miss the point SATURINE, yes the Mccann's are suffering but so are a lot of people around the world, not only with missing children but with, other tradgedies like horrible diseases, death of loved on ones, victims of terrorism, the list goes on.

Why should the media focus so heavily on one family's grief? There is a total difference between empathy with the case and the almost constant coverage the media have given to this case.

Yes ,it's not entertainment, but the way the media is using this story for their own ends is totally wrong. I for one don't watch the news for entertainment. I watch the news to find out what's going on in the world.

I keep saying there have been many very newsworthy stories (many including tradegedies and loss of life) which have gone unreported on the TV news bulletins during this 4 week period. The fact that you maybe asking yourself "What other stories?" just goes to prove the point about the over coverage of the Madeleine story.

[tinkabel]

And I cannot pass judgement on them because as a child I was left on my own on holiday (can anyone remember Butlin's.....baby crying in chalet service???) and I in turn have left my child (and for that I am not proud...it is just that thankfully nothing untoward happened to my child and it did not come to the attention of the media).

 

Firstly did you think it was ok to leave your child because you were left as a child???

 

Secondly why the hell did you leave your child in the first place???

 

Thirdly i wouldn't come on here and admit to leaving your child, whether proud or not because it isn't right what-so-ever!!

[purdyamos]

An interesting and rather taboo-prodding article in The Times.

 

I think it makes some subtle but very important distinctions of the sort that no-one will ever admit to, but it puts into words some of what I feel uneasy about the way people (and it's not all about the media - they're feeding a demand) are reacting to this case. Although it's something nobody would ever admit to or acknowledge, there's a lot of satisfaction to be had in vicarious grief and the bittersweet stab of pity.