Was 50 metres from the apartment 50 metres too far?

[Alfred R Jones]

We are speaking of just one scenario here, though. Do you have children/grandchildren Alfred? Would you leave them at the ages of three and two asleep in your unlocked house or flat while you popped to the pub next door for a meal and a bottle of wine? If the answer is no then you are a responsible parent/grandparent. Simple.

Yes Iam a parent and no I haven't done what you describe but I have done other things similar which would probably receive your scathing condemnation.  My kids are alive and well nevertheless.

[faithlilly]

I think you're missing the point I was makng.  It is about being a parent and knowing that certain actions carry risks and yet still facilitating  them on way or the other.  If anything I would say allowing a child to walk to school alone puts said child in greater danger than leaving him asleep and alone for periods of up to 30 minutes.

And what I am saying is that whether something carries a risk is heavily dependent on the age of the child.

[Alfred R Jones]

And what I am saying is that whether something carries a risk is heavily dependent on the age of the child.

I refer you back to my original point.


We all know as parents that children have been abducted or run over whilst out and about - walking to school, playing outside, running an errand.  This being the case, if one of our children is taken or hurt whilst taking part in these activities, are we at fault for allowing them to take part in activities during which they may come to harm?

Is the answer yes, or no?

[G-Unit]

Yes Iam a parent and no I haven't done what you describe but I have done other things similar which would probably receive your scathing condemnation.  My kids are alive and well nevertheless.

What I asked was would you do it, not had you done it. After all, very few people would do that. I would love to know what similar things you did do. They must have been irresponsible if you think I would be scathing.

[Alfred R Jones]

What I asked was would you do it, not had you done it. After all, very few people would do that. I would love to know what similar things you did do. They must have been irresponsible if you think I would be scathing.

I think you're extremely judgmental and I have no doubt at all that you would find me very irresponsible.

[faithlilly]

I refer you back to my original point.


We all know as parents that children have been abducted or run over whilst out and about - walking to school, playing outside, running an errand.  This being the case, if one of our children is taken or hurt whilst taking part in these activities, are we at fault for allowing them to take part in activities during which they may come to harm?

Is the answer yes, or no?

If we ignore the age of the child and their ability to deal with danger  then yes we are at fault.

[Alice Purjorick]

Indeed she would have been aware of most of the SP ... why would she have given a thought to abduction in a sleepy, child friendly holiday resort?

No-one has that excuse any longer ... do they?

I think I have responded to that question before. Briefly it is:
"Risk is a consequence of action taken in the face of uncertainty"

[G-Unit]

I think you're extremely judgmental and I have no doubt at all that you would find me very irresponsible.

Well, as you won't tell me we'll never know will we? It may interest you to know that I believe in children having freedom to explore the world and take age-appropriate risks. The key words are age and appropriate. Being left alone in an unlocked apartment five nights in a row isn't appropriate at two and three years of age.

[Alfred R Jones]

Well, as you won't tell me we'll never know will we? It may interest you to know that I believe in children having freedom to explore the world and take age-appropriate risks. The key words are age and appropriate. Being left alone in an unlocked apartment five nights in a row isn't appropriate at two and three years of age.

so do you concur with Stephen that whatever happened to Madeleine,  the McCanns are entirely to blame?   Do you believe they deserve to be prosecuted and if so why, if yours is the prevailing view, did the Portuguese authorities not agree with you?

[Mr Gray]

Well, as you won't tell me we'll never know will we? It may interest you to know that I believe in children having freedom to explore the world and take age-appropriate risks. The key words are age and appropriate. Being left alone in an unlocked apartment five nights in a row isn't appropriate at two and three years of age.

so it would have been ok had the apartment been locked....the mcccanns and maddie were simply very unlucky...Mark Warner changed their policy after Maddie and I'm sure far less children have been left to sleep in hotel rooms and apartments since but I bet it still goes on

[pegasus]

60 metres as the crow flies, child to parent
Edited - please can someone check this to make sure.

[faithlilly]

60 metres as the crow flies, child to parent.
Don't believe 50 metres it's a PR trick.

Isn't everything about this case Pegasus ?

[pegasus]

Isn't everything about this case Pegasus ?

And was counterproductive IMO Faithlilly. Why didn't they tell us the distance from table to child ?

[pegasus]

I found a video on youtube by someone who claims they timed themself walking from the docs tapas table to the garden gate and it took only 20 seconds

But now let's do some basic maths to see if that claim is true...
It is 70 metres walk from that table to the garden gate (you can measure it on Gmaps) so that means the poster was walking at 7.8mph. That is an extremely fast walking speed.

Martin Brunt did that exact walk and he counted 80 paces. So the youtube poster was doing about 4 paces per second. Amazing. I bet the MOSW would be extremely interested in investing some of their £384million budget in that and outdoing the japanese.

PR is an incredibly fast-paced business isn't it  ;)

[Anna]

I found a video on youtube by someone who claims they timed themself walking from the docs tapas table to the garden gate and it took only 20 seconds

But now let's do some basic maths to see if that claim is true...
It is 70 metres walk from that table to the garden gate (you can measure it on Gmaps) so that means the poster was walking at 7.8mph. That is an extremely fast walking speed.

Martin Brunt did that exact walk and he counted 80 paces. So the youtube poster was doing about 4 paces per second. Amazing. I bet the MOSW would be extremely interested in investing some of their £384million budget in that and outdoing the japanese.

PR is an incredibly fast-paced business isn't it  ;)

I think the 50-70 metres that we have been told is referring to door to gate.

It takes about a minute to walk from restaurant to 5A
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-474428/In-pictures-120-metre-route-check-Madeleine.html