what are we doing to our children !

[natalielongstaff]

im just watching a docu on ch 4 and a woman is considering micro-chipping her dd to keep her safe !

kids should be able to play outside

 

[The Fetherstons]

I have got that programme on to Nat, its getting crazy and so sad that it is coming to this
Yes I agree kids should be able to play safely but you just never know whos lurking

 

[jjk]

thats so sad children should be able to play out

 

[natalielongstaff]

there must be a balance ! i know bad things happen but children need to learn to be responsible for their own actions

 

[jjk]

there must be a balance ! i know bad things happen but children need to learn to be responsible for their own actions

totally agree Nat

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

I agree children need freedom and to learn about the outside world.
But sadly sometimes not even I or them can be prepared for anything that could happen,its only a could but still it's enough to make you paranoid.
It seems it's happening everywhere,even on your own door step,So I guess I can see why parents are paranoid and want to do everything in there will to keep them safe.
It's a shame the world as some vulgar people in it

 

[Strommie]

I saw this programme last night, thought she was going a little bit over the top

 

[carolfoy]

I saw it too and thought it was the scariest thing I'd ever seen.
No matter what your personal thoughts on the McCanns are I'm sure they'd have been horrified to learn that Maddies disapearance has caused such panic and unnecessary stress to children.

 

[saratogagirl]

I watched too, I thought it was very sad the way that the children kept mentioning Maddie, they seemed to have been brainwashed

 

[mandymouse]

OMG

I didn't watch it, but that seems a bit extreme to me

 

[CHEK]

I saw it advertised, saw a bit where a lady was in the car with her daughter and she was explaining to her daughter that anyone of these people they were passing could be a killer and that little girl wasn't very old, my eldest daughter would have been devasted if I took her out telling her things like that, she'd never be away from my side!, I know we have to protect our children, but I switched over after seeing that.

 

[KayleeUK]

I didn't see the programme. But I remember being somewhere with my DS and I heard a parent say to the child, 'if you run off you will go missing like Maddie!'

 

[PoppyAnna]

I never saw it - I will look out for a repeat - what was it called?

I had a discussion along similar lines with my in-laws a few months ago.

They took my dd's to the local swing park recently.
My eldest dd5 will run from swings to slide back to swings etc but she never runs off. It is not a big park and is never busy so I never feel out of control - she understands I have to supervise dd2 more and she always calls out to me what she is going on. Like most children though, she never wants to end the fun and go home. I think she did this with my IL's and they pretended to go but she didn't back down.

They said to me "you do tell her that there are horrible people that take children and do horrible things to them, don't you"
No I blinking well do not!!!! It's my job to protect my children not for them to be scared of everybody they see......
I don't want their childhood to be ruined by fear, I want it to be innocent fun until I have to educate them otherwise. That time will come but it isn't at 4 and 2.

 

[Lizzybear]

No I blinking well do not!!!! It's my job to protect my children not for them to be scared of everybody they see......
I don't want their childhood to be ruined by fear, I want it to be innocent fun until I have to educate them otherwise. That time will come but it isn't at 4 and 2.

I really wish more people thought like you, this is exactly the attitude I hope to have when I have children of my own.

I didn't see the programme. But I remember being somewhere with my DS and I heard a parent say to the child, 'if you run off you will go missing like Maddie!'

Ooh this reminds me of my bf's old boss's son, him and his 4 year old daughter were going on holiday to Greece and he told her she'd better be a good girl or she'd 'end up like that Maddie girl' What the hell..!

 

[Lisash]

saw a bit where a lady was in the car with her daughter and she was explaining to her daughter that anyone of these people they were passing could be a killer

I was furious at that. She even seemed hesitant at saying family members were't potential murderers. When her daughter commented that they 'could trust family couldn't they?' she just passed some comment about always staying with mummy! It's all well and good keeping them under 24 hour observation but at some point they have to join the 'real world'. Where does the parental control end. It's one thing to warn your kids of the dangers they may come across whilst growing up, it's another to frighten them into never wanting to leave your side. You can't walk them to work every day when they grow up. Kids need the opportunity to become 'streetwise' to make it in the adult world.

 

[Lady Radington]

I remember when i was little (late 80s early 90s), which doesn't seem that long ago really, i used to play outside with my cousins all the time in their street, granted it was a quiet cul-de-sac (i don't know how to spell that word) but we never felt in danger and were aware that we shouldn't talk to strangers but were not afraid of everyone who was around us. I feel more scared by strangers now i am 21 than when i was 7 for instance. I think people's fear has more to do with how much these shocking stories are reported on the news these days. I talked to my family about it and they said that there wasn't as much coverage back when they were younger as there weren't so many TV channels or major newspapers. These things always happened, but they weren't so widely known about in intimate details. I don't watch the news much anymore as i believe that it just makes people scared, depressed, or sad. The majority of stories that are reported on the news are about bad things that have happened, as this seems to sell more, thus they are reported more, which feeds the fear.

 

[wickesy]

I can remember being approached twice when I was a child. The first time I was about 9 or 10 and walking home from school when somebody tried to get me into their car. I just walked away, told my Mum when I got home and we notified the Police.

The second time I was around 15 and was in particular circumstances where I didn't tell anybody but again just walked away.

I think as long as children have been brought up to be streetwise and have shown an understanding of what they should do if approached by strangers then you have to extend the lead at some point. Certainly my experiences have never done me any harm.