As bad as I feel for the girl & her parents, I think they were bloody stupid to leave her alone in a hotel too.

I also agree about the looks as well, so many other children get abducted and only her seems to get media coverage however her parents really did push teh campaign so that is another reason. A lot of parents don't create a hueg campaign like they did whcih contributes to the insane amount of media attention the case is getting.

Well, some people are mentioning mysterious "puerto rican guys" in association with the parents of this kid. Not that I'd go as far as to imply that the parents have done anything evil outside of their inherent stupidity, but ya'know.

Yeah i'd heard rumblings that people had seen her about with some other people and the parents denied it was her.

Hence the rumour going around that the parents got someone to take and look after the girl so they could get media attention.

Sounds like a warped munchausen-by-proxy syndrome. Only the girl isn't sick, she's been 'abducted'.

Yeah, I agree with all here. But once the media gets on a roll it's very hard for it to stop. Thenext wave will be the "look at what the media is doing" type articles by the media. At least they're not blameing video-games.

im just hoping they dont find her in the next couple of weeks...i have a £50 bet at 43-1 with Paddy Power that they find her in July, dead but with no signs of sexual abuse...I know it was a long shot but those odds were just too good to miss!

IIRC, isn't there a South Park episode where "some puero rican guys" are blamed for the the disappearance of Butters when his mom thought she killed him?

Here Here. Well said, Jim.

It was a difficult situation for them really, their children were sleeping in their room and they were going for dinner. Unfortunately they chose not to disturb their children and went to the Tapas bar which was right opposite the hotel. It was stupid for them to leave their children but I sympathise with them for doing what they did. They are clever people (both doctors), but everyone makes mistakes and some people on some websites are being disgusting; suggesting the parents killed her and hid the body or organised a friend to snatch her- claims like this are utterly ridiculous and insensitive and do not help the fact that a 4 year old has gone missing. Empthasive with the McCanns a bit, what if your little child went missing, it'd be a nightmare, I'd be traumatised for the rest of my life.

Still your right for voicing your opinion- the parents were stupid, but they are not horrible people like they've been demonised like by some.

I've always said that if three-quarters of the people in this world who breed would stop, we'd be a lot better off.

Either way it happens, that child shouldn't go back with parents who are that irresponsible. I DO wish more media sources would start being a lot more critical of such parents.

This is a quote from GARBZ
"Yeah it's sad, and i hope they do get her back but at this stage in the game, i think it's unlikely."

Damn i hope Jack Thompson Doesn't read that, he'll start ranting on about gamers viewing real life situations as a game. :D
Anyway, I've not been keeping track of this story because i don't watch tv or listen to the radio, and the fact we get enough local news by just going to work :D, but right from the beginning i Viewed the parents as being irresponsible but in the area of Scotland that i live in i see irresponsible parenting all the time and it pisses me off.

This Madeline Mcann ordeal has completely blown out of proportion.

I myself HAVE a four year-old. I don't give a good goddamn if my stomach is rumbling louder than an outboard engine, I'll either order room service (it's a HOTEL, after all) or I'll wait until my child wakes up. At four years-old, there's no way in hell I'd leave him by himself, and least of all in an unfamiliar area. He's smart enough to wake up, see that I'm not there, and go looking for me.

Plus, it doesn't matter how well-behaved my child might be. It's not about not trusting my child (even AT an age as young as 4), but about not trusting any other motherfucker who might try to break into my room looking for valuables, or who may have even been watching my family and saw my child, waiting for an opportunity to grab him.

You do NOT take chances like that. It's always "I just turned my back for a second!" or "I was only gone for five minutes!" that you hear. Well, fuck you. Stop leaving your children locked in cars while you go pick up a gallon of milk. Stop stuffing your schedule so fucking full that you can't set aside the time to take your children with you and keep an eye on them. Not all situations can be prevented, no, but LUNCH at a fucking HOTEL during a VACATION? THAT was something that easily could've waited. That wasn't "single-mom-can't-afford-a-babysitter-and-has-something-dire-to-attend-to". This was "rich-bitch-parents-who-have-no-self-control".

So yeah, fuck them. Heartily.

Oh, oh, and another thing - the fact that they didn't even think of the shit that could've happened to that little girl WITHOUT the intervention of someone else kidnapping her is just as bad. I don't leave my child unattended not just because of what some OTHER fuck could do to him, but because of what trouble he could get into himself - electric sockets he could stick objects into, things he could break and cut himself on, things he could swallow, etc.

Even if there WERE no child abduction in the world, these parents would be eligible for World's Dumbest Fucking Adults in the Care of a Child.

Glad people haven't forgot about the parents actions. Im sure they must have overlooked their mistake immediately and haven't been thinking about that decision every minute of every day since she went missing.
Come up with some more insults guys as Im sure it is technically possible for you to make them feel worse than they already do..

Jim, I don't mean to be a ass but does this sort of thing push your buttons? Because I agree with you but I don't think I've seen you like this before.

Shit this is far too deep, I want to see gamer tattoos and hear about how Zangief can bite Liu Kangs face off not think about this sort of tradegy. Calling it a day ?

First let me say it's nice to see some wholesome merging of the minds on any gaming-related site. The above debate, along with the words of it's originator have inspired me to create an account (finally).

Second I wonder how this event will shape how the girl sees her parents in the next 5-10 years. How do you make an excuse for that? If the girl is found hopefully the parents are prepared because they're going to find out the true weight of their carelessness.

And the media has excelled this quite a bit but that's natural for this society. Moan all you want the media gives as much about our opinions as they do about this girls condition.

I pray the girl is found and that the sight of her parents will heal her rather than harm her. No matter her age she's going to grow eventually and this thorn will be in her side. Difference is she'll be mature enough to understand where it came from.

I was a victim of child abuse once. Details are personal but a few years later, once I understood, I was harmed greater than when the event happned.

Warning: Long Post - Addressing several people

Keniley:

Oh dear. I really hope you don't have children if that is your attitude. Your statements calling for me to grow up are quite ironic, given that your post is steeped in irresponsible, gated immaturity.

For the record, I have no biological child, but I have replaced my mother's shoddy parenting of my siblings with my own attempts for many years. From the age of 16 to 21, I have looked after my little sister. Now out of that situation, I don't deem myself to have always done the best of jobs, being a young man who never wanted that responsibility, but I never let her be put in serious harm.

I have never left her alone to go get something to eat. To leave her unattended for half an hour is unthinkable to me. As a brother, my job is to protect her from harm and keep an eye on her when there are no other eyes present. As a parent, that job should be taken more serious one hundred thousandfold. Any less is not to be excused.

And if your one thought in this is "how would they know someone would break in?" then seriously, grow the Hell up. That's just ONE freak scenario out of a whole multitude of more plausible ones. What if she'd fallen out of bed, hit her head and suffered trauma? What if she'd woken and start playing with plug sockets? What if there was a fire and she was LOCKED IN THE HOTEL ROOM? Why can't you understand just how real the dangers are and how terrible it is to leave a child in such a situation?

Xzyliac:

Welcome to the Dtoid community and may I say I'm thrilled that I was able to encourage a new member, especially one who's appreciative of some of the societal debate I've been accidentally causing around here lately.

Not much else to say except I agree fully with your statements and respect your being able to bring some experience to the debate.

Trooper:

Of course this has pushed a button with me, like any examples of neglectful parenting would. For the record, you don't see me like this because videogames don't often lead to this kind of debate, but social commentary and debate is something I hold quite dear to my heart which is why I put a lot of myself into it.

Everyone else:

Thanks for not stringing me up for making another thread go all societal. :)

@Keniley

As a few others have said, child abduction is only the worst and least likely thing that could have happened; however, there are other things that could have happened that were much more likely to potnetially happen. For instance, the first thing that came to mind for me was the child waking up, and leaving the room wondering where mommy and daddy are. I don't think i need to go into what might happen once the child leaves the room. Jim gave another good exmaple with the child simply injuring herself falling out of bed. The things is, that age is very dangerous for children on their own since they are mobile enough to go where they want to, but still ignorant enough to do something that could get them injuried. The parents may have been gone for only half and hour, but it only takes an instant for something to go wrong.

I can understand not expecting child abduction, afterall, as oten as it happens the chances are still very slim... however, there are many things that could have much more easily happened that they should have been concerned might happen. Hell, you don't have to be a parent to know the dangers of what could happen... Sure you need to be a guardian to really know the stress of being a guarding, but stress is no escuse for slacking on responcibility...

Getting back to the original post I think using SL as a means of maintaining public interest in a missing person is something that should be praised not slated. Having an international social network on hand is an obvious source of info and the longer Maddy is in the public eye, the more chance that someone with that crucial detail burning a hole in their conscience is likely to crack and give it up.

The parents fucked up, and either don't value their children, or are just fucking stupid. Either way, wow, grats for leaving three children younger than 5 years old in an unlocked hotel room in Portugal. Obviously they are going to get scared, one will cry, and then some disgusting thing might here that and realize wow, no adults in there, wow, door is unlocked... yeah, parents should give their children up to foster care imo