Does anyone agree that i find it hard to have sympathy for the parents of the missing girl in Portugal?

Question

i can't help feeling that they are no better than the kidknapper for leaving their children alone. why on earth would you leave your children alone?

raceybird, you either don't have kids or you're insane

sarra m, i believe that the parents should serve the same sentance as the kidknapper if/when they are caught. if we don't think this way, other parents will act the same way and tragedies like this will happen again and the people who suffer are the innocent children

simon m, they declined the services of the hotel babysitting, which by all acounts is a good reliable service. no excuses, just really bad parenting

DoctressWho, if your best is to leave your young children alone and unsupervised then yes you should be punished.they are as much to blame as the kidknappers

Answer 1

I think these parents hould be tarred, feathered, then pistol whipped. I have NO sympathy for them whatever. I do, however, feel so sorry for that poor little girl. If she was abducted, she's probably not going to be found alive. Not to be a gloomy gus, but in many (most?) child abduction cases where the child is found, they're usually found dead and they've usually been beaten/molested, etc. When I think about what the poor child might be going through, it makes my heart sick. :(

If (hoping and praying) she IS found alive and healthy, I think she and her two-year old twin siblings should be taken from the parents and placed in a good foster home.

How f*cking retarded do you have to be to leave a 3 year old and TWO 2 year olds alone while you eat dinner? I don't give a rat's @ss if you're checking on them every 30 minutes--you DON'T LEAVE TODDLERS ALONE FOR ANY LENGTH OF TIME! Sorry to yell, but this really makes me irate. >:-( The truly ridiculous part of this situation is that the hotel/apartments where they were staying offered a babysitting service for guests?!?!

I have two sons (ages 3 and 2) and I don't even leave them alone while I take the trash out (dumpster is on the corner of our apartment building--about a 2 minute walk round trip).

Answer 2

I agree only that you feel this way.
I was left alone in my house many times as a young child, it wasn't illegal in the UK then.
My parents did their best to look after me, it wasn't best practise, but they never intentionally caused me harm, I cannot understand why you would punish my parents for doing their best.
That is what you are saying, unless the parents caused the child to go missing, they cannot be punished unless they broke a law in Portugal.
I do feel they were not as careful as they knew they should be, if they couldn't afford to pay for someone to look after the children, they couldn't afford to leave the children alone.
Someone could have seen the mother go into the place, and out again, the mother may have left the door open when she went to check on the children, someone could have got in and hid, at that point.
The parents know they could, they should have done more to protect their children. They are suffering enough for their loss.

Answer 3

I think we should stop finding fault with the parents. They are going through a very hard and painful ordeal- they probably cant eat, sleep or think properly.

We must join together and pray for the return of Maddy and support the police too. I wish i was out there to assist in the search for her. It breaks my heart to know that she will be 4 years old soon.

I feel that the police were a bit slow to start their investigation into her disappearance. From all accounts, they are not doing enough. She could be anywhere by now- she might even be in portugal. I dont mean to worry everyone, but its a possibility.

Answer 4

I totally agree, to leave a 3 year old child alone(to have an evening out or whatever it was) in a foreign country is just irresponsible. Just like everyone else, I pray that she is found safe, the little girl is only an innocent child who should have been protected by her parents.

Answer 5

Its easy to judge - they are no doubt having a dreadful time and feeling regret every minute of the day for what amounts to a really bad decision. They had not abandoned the child and gone out - they were by all accounts very close by. It is however every parents duty to make sure their children are safe. My thoughts are with them and I really hope they get their little girl back unharmed.

Answer 6

I heard they didnt leave te baby alone, they left the child with the hotel babysitting service. I think your a bit harsh, lets hope that you dont make a mistake that the rest of the world will judge you on

Answer 7

Basically, parents don't. This was an incredible act and the little girl is the only one paying for their selfishness. I wonder how many times they have done this? It seems likely not to have been the first time. And the even more incredible thing is they try to justify their selfishness.

Answer 8

a child has gone missing
this isnt a time to argue about the questionable stupidity of the parents
a young childs life is at stake and a young helpless child has gone missing and your moaning about the parents sure they maybe to blame but thats for a later date
think of the child not the parents

Answer 9

I do have sympathy for them but I think it was totally irresponsible to leave a child so young on its own, so ultimately some of the blame has to fall on them.

Answer 10

No, I would not leave a child alone. However, I suppose there are circumstances where you would feel they are safe when they can be checked and are close by. But I would never consider this option myself.