Big Geordie

Question aimed at everyone, but of course people will have their own ideas of what is acceptable and what is not.

It's to do with looking after youngsters and has been brought into focus with what happened to 'Maddie' as well as the young boy who drowned earlier in the summer. With regards to what happened to Maddie, the McCann's left her and her younger siblings in their flat, whilst they headed off to have a meal at an eatery on the complex. They maintained that they regularly checked on her throughout the night. From my perspective, kids of such a young age should never be left on their own for such a thing. Obviously the McCann's (and doubtlessly others) felt differently.

with regards to the little lad who drowned, this is a tougher one. In the thread, there have been calls agains the parents for not knowing where their kids were at the time it happened, or not supervising them. If I think to when I was that age, I was allowed to play out unsupervised as were most of my friends. Obviously in recent years, some parents have become more vigilent - but again, you can't know their whereabouts 24/7.

And then of course you get the parents who couldn't seem to give a flying one about where their youngsters are and what they are up to. Perhaps this is something that's always happened, but it seems more prevalent today.

Being a parent brings with it a certain degree of responsibility. My question is how far does that go as it obviously varies from parent to parent.

Neil Purvis

Do you really think that’s the case, or is it more that they’re under more scrutiny nowadays?

Bouncerboy13

Depends on the situation tbh

I mean you have some people like Lycangav who won't let his child breath without Gav's say so.

I would have no problem leaving my kids asleep in a hotel room whilst I went off for dinner but that's just me

Ryan

I wasnt allowed out of sight of my house unsupervised until I was almost a teenager. I think I would have risked being beaten up a few times in exchange for gaining more social confidence at a young age. To be honest getting beaten up a few times as a child would have been something of a plus as well as that's something I've never experienced in my life.

allstargyp

similar subject but slighty off topic; I slapped my sons leg today, hard in a fit of temper, he burst into tears, probably hurt him a bit, but I felt so dreadfully guilty straight after and we had a nice making up cuddle. Hopefully it shocked him not to behave like that again and me not to lose my cool so majorly next time.

Big Geordie

Do you really think that’s the case, or is it more that they’re under more scrutiny nowadays? </BLOCKQUOTE>

I bit of both, IMO. There are parents out there who's kids are out of control, but they seem to just let them get on with it (anything for an easy life, I guess). There is more scrutiny today, but that was always going to be inevitable with high profile cases in the media over the last 10/15 years.

HD

I used to worry about my nieces and nephews if they went out the room I was in when they were younger. Now I can handle that, and so long as I know where they are it's fine. Wouldn't let them outside alone (Ages 5, 5, 2 & 2), but would be ok for them to play in the garden if I could see them from a window and knew they couldn't get to the street.

Father Senegal

I wonder whether you might change your mind as and when you have your own.

I wouldnt leave my kids on their own in a hotel room at their current ages.

HD

You're lucky there isn't a "report to Social Services" button on this forum

Ryan

I certainly wouldnt leave kids that young on their own in any unfamiliar surroundings - let alone abroad. I find that an utterly bizarre situation as surely checking on them every 10/15 minutes would render leaving them on their own a bit pointless anyway as you couldnt relax.