how many children will be left alone

its school holidays and i am wondering with kates celeb status what kind of message is going into holiday makers heads --- yes they will know its wrong to leave children alone --- but how many if caught will say the mcanns did it its ok --- no jail for them

Too bloody many, Cass, thanks to a selfish mare and her stupid campaigns, and all the sheep who blindly follow.

iris im sure it will happen another child will be hurt or even worse --- they are sending out the wrong message --- all goverments need to get this message out how wrong it is -- chuff kate mcann and he look at me status -- its wrong very wrong

Quite a few cass is the answer. Despite what has happened, the current available advice is still that its okay to leave your children so long as there is a professional baby listening service but many parents, unfortnately, seem to think that a DIY version is adequate. In my opinion, even a professional baby listening service is inadequate because it does not take account of choking, sickness, falls, etc - so long as all is quiet outside the premises then parents are free to dance the night away!

I blame Billy Butlin and Fred Pontin personally. I know they were well intentioned, wanting to give parents a complete rest or enjoy adult entertainment, but I consider it highly dangerous. Just think, back in the day there were no such things as CRB checks, insufficient training etc and yet we still trusted these casual holiday employees with our childrens wellbeing.

The link here is worth a read -

http://www.holidaywithbaby.com/pages/needtoknow/childSafety.php

very interesting, and from it you will see that baby listening services are still hugely popular and, in my opinion, it gives out the wrong message to parents. This notion that 'me' time is desirable and 'the norm' on holiday, just drives parents to leave their children alone. The message in this article is that it is within the bounds of responsible parenting, just as the McCanns said, but we all know its risky. Risks are always present and have to be weighed up, but to leave children asleep alone, whether its a professional listening service or a DiY one, is a risk too far imo.

All the child protection/welfare agencies will say it is never acceptable to leave very young children
alone. Neglect is a form of child abuse, so for celebrities and others who have come out like Mitchell to try and normalise neglecting children is quite sick.

cherry1 wrote:All the child protection/welfare agencies will say it is never acceptable to leave very young children
alone. Neglect is a form of child abuse, so for celebrities and others who have come out like Mitchell to try and normalise neglecting children is quite sick.

Be nice to know what they think about hotels that offer listening services. Babysitting is acceptable so long as the sitter has been approved officially and thoroughly checked out. But listening services are too risky for me I'm afraid and they just give the DIY listeners at doors an excuse, we haven't left our children all alone, we are operating a listening service. Outlaw it all is what I say.