a question my 'pre teen' daughter asked this morning?

Question

whilst getting ready for schooland listening to GMTV.

whilst watching the latest interview of the McCanns, my daughter asked me, ' if i found Maddie, would i give her back to her parents'

i asked 'instead of social services?

she said yes.

i thought now theres a question, and she said why don't you put it on Q/A.

So i have,

so if you found Maddie, would you give her back to her parents or Social services?

dave s

once again you wrote something that is blatenly obvious that i hadn't thought off. that they haven't once moved off site.

Hallie,

she will love you for that comment

freerange

thanx for comments, she will love that.

Answer 1

I know someone who did the exact same thing - her and her partner had a fall out and he stormed out of the house.......she went looking for him leaving 3 kids under 5 alone in the house. Social services got involved for almost 2yrs - there had better be some serious serious social work intervention when they get home, otherwise people without media attention and funds are being discriminated against!

Answer 2

Its the law in most countries that children under five cant be left alone unattended. Tragic as this case is, the parents do need a shake down by social services for leaving the child alone in a foreign country, with the patio door open. They say they checked periodically. Maybe they were in such a hurry to return to their dinner evening that on one of those hasty checks they even left the door open. Definitely social services need to have a word with these parents. Never mind if they are doctors or whatever. The law is the same for everybody.

Answer 3

I would give her back to her parents because really thats all she would want. But I think the social services should be involved and they should have to attend parenting classes. Lets face it some 14 yr old teen age mothers have a better idea what is right and wrong when it comes to ur children than they do.

Answer 4

Well said, Hallie!

This child just turned 4 years old. The first people she will want to see will be her parents and siblings. The young twins will want to see their big sister as well. The kids deserve that much and it would be disgusting to deny the parents the right to see their missing daughter.

We don't know all (or even half, it appears) of the facts so it is not down to us to judge based on press speculation. Unless of course, everyone here is a fully qualified social worker or police officer with access to all the information needed by the experts to make such a decision. I doubt that's the case, oddly enough. Who are any of us to judge based only on the lunatic ravings of the press?

It is up to the authorities to obtain all the facts and act accordingly. That needs to happen once the poor little girl is back with her family where she belongs.

Answer 5

despite my misgivings towards her parents, i would return her to them... after-all, this is a 4 year old child we are talking about... i have a 4 year old son, and i know for a fact that he'd be even further traumatised if he had to go live with social services after being abducted. he'd just want to be home again, surrounded by people he knows and love. however, if she was found alive and returned to her parents, i think that they should be monitored closely by social services for the next couple of years. they really do need to understand how wrong they were to leave those children unattended.

Answer 6

Social Services if you are taking good care of a child she doesnt go missing and I think despite their heartache which they have almost definitely learned from, and the regrets they will always have, that they were very irresponsible leaving children on their own in the fist place! this matter should definitely be looked into further after all thats what would happen to any normal family!

Answer 7

Parents!

Answer 8

I would contact the appropriate and responsible person...ie Rupert Murdoch (Uncle Rupert as people who work for him call him) and hand her over to News Limited for an exclusive, and high paying interview.

In reality I would hand her over the the first convenient person. If you find a lost child, who can you give her to. Maybe call the police would be my first answer.

Sure, if I was a vigilante masked crime fighter with super powers (eg, superman, spiderman, osama bin laden), I might raise her as my own side kick and then in a later episode help her find out about the real truth.

But in reality, a lost little girl would go to whatever person is in Authority and the police would have a range of questions for me anyway. If I knew how to contact her parents I would go to the parents.

Answer 9

Before handing her over to the police, I would make sure I was accompanied by a good lawyer. Else its me that would lose my freedom, for being a good Samaritan. That I had found her, and had nothing to do with her abduction wouldn't wash. My DNA would be stolen from me, and I would be trying to prove my innocence, whilst the real abductors went scot free.
People would point the finger at me for the rest of my life, no matter what I would be guilty in many peoples eyes. So in reality, I hope its not me that finds her.

Answer 10

I would give her to the police, seems the reasonable thing to do knowing that I do NOT have all the facts, neither do I feel I have the right to make moral judgements of such magnitude.
I can only assume that some people answering your question have access to all the information/facts and feel they have the expertise to make such judgements.
Wow !! to be in the near presence of such perfection is a truly humbling experience.