It is illegal to leave an under 15 in a house alone. What does this mean for Madeleine's parents?

Question

Will social services be involved when they return?

C: It definitly is 15. I remember reading it somewhere.

hera: Where have you been? Are you English? Just check out http//:news.bbc.co.uk and on the UK/ ENgland pages.

And yes, it is definitly 15 in the UK

hera: Thats
http://news.bbc.co.uk

Answer 1

Yes it is, they are under age, Madeleine's parents are to blame for her going missing, they neglected all their children by leaving 3 young children home alone, social services should be involved when they get back to England, if this had happen in England more would have been done, they would have been arrested,an questioned and asked why they left their 3 young babies home alone, have they done this before,and why, why didn't they use the baby sitting service at the hotel,
These parents are not uneducated people, they are Doctors and should have known better,
everyone is saying the Portuguese Police are slow and not doing enough, I think they have done as much as they can,and their best,
If this was any low paid /single parents, there would be an uproar,
I just hope for their sakes, she is found alive .

Answer 2

No.. the Children and Young Person's act 1933 does not apply to doctors and other people in such positions.

Social Services WILL NOT INVESTIGATE because these parents are obviously very, very speical.. in fact Social Services are probably tying yellow ribbons in their office right now!!

There is a separate law for these people....probably the same law which applied to Harold Shipman and Sir Roy Meadows!!!

Answer 3

Could you add a link to your question, because I am not sure what you are referring to...

As to the age of when you can leave your kids alone, an eleven year old can babysit, so I would say 11 for short periods of time.. as far as a 15 year old, they can be parents, so why can't they take care of younger kids? If you are referring to a 15 MONTH baby, then, YES, I am SURE that it is illegal.

Answer 4

yes it is illegal to leave them alone, even though alot of ppl do it, i think its ok to leave children who know what is right from wrong and can't put them self in any danger maybe over 10 yrs is ok but younger than that is wrong, madelines parents made a big mistake that night and i really do feel for them, as for social services i doubt anything will happen there

Answer 5

I don't think the age is so high but certainly under the age of 4 especially the two twins who are only 18 months or something, could you imagine how scary it would be to wake up crying in the night and not be able to find your parents anywhere? it doesn't bear thinking about.

Answer 6

For one thing, this was in Portugal, so Portuguese law will apply. Secondly, these people had money, why didn't they get a baby sitter. The child had already managed to get herself out of the apartment once before.

Answer 7

I think it is wrong to leave children under the age of 15 in the house alone ver wrong and no i suppose it doesnt say alot for maddies parents.

Answer 8

15 is certainly old enough to be left alone. I was baby-sitting my sister's kids when I was younger then that. I would hope there would be someone checking in on them, however, if it were overnight or extended. I suppose that after some set amount of time it would be illegal but that would have to vary state to state.

Answer 9

It is very strange to go on holiday with your family and not take them to a restaurant especially in Portugal as they adore kids over there. They must have left them lots of times before and what about the other families they were on holiday with - they must have left their kids alone as well.

Answer 10

they should be arrested for what they have done, it was so stupid for them to do that to three young children. i have heard because of their jobs and stuff they will not be charged, what makes me laugh i don't even know why they took those children on hols in the first place cos all they did was chuck them in an holiday play group and when they are home their children are left with someone while they work all hours. not fit parents in my eyes. i just hope no harm will come to madeleine.