Madeleine McCann info shown before Shrek, anyone else cross about this?

[WideWebWitch]

I was. I have chosen NOT to tell my nearly 4yo about this. I haven't discussed it in detail with 9yo ds either I CHOOSE not to put the news on in our house. I really resent this being shoved at my children before a U cert movie. Completely inappropriate imo.

The subject of child abduction should be one of the first things we teach our little children regarding this very dangerous world we live in. Shielding them from something which directly affects them, could prove to be detrimental. I am struggling to comprehend why some mothers have taken offence at the cinema showing an advert. News and adverts relating to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann should be seen as a tremendous support to parents, in helping to reinforce what we should be trying to teach our children. The idea is that we protect them from abduction, not from seeing an advert about it! I feel it absolutely necessary to make my children aware of the reasons why they need to stay close to me when we go out, ie. not running off and hiding as children are prone to do.

My youngest son is going on his primary school trip this week. I feel I owe it to him to know the dangers and how to protect himself. We have watched the 'Charlie Says' advert in the park, and we have talked through what he should do if a stranger speaks to him or tries to walk off with him. I will worry like crazy all day, but at least I have prepared him in some way.

I have resisted posting on MMc threads due to the emotive nature and usual arguements that follow. However, biddzy01 your comments have mad me furious. You have completely missed the point the OP was making. It was not said that we shouldn't have adverts about MMc, God forbid anyone child is abducted, the point was that the decision to tell your small child about it is YOUR decision and it was wrong to put up news of an abduction to an audience of children where it cannot be turned off.

Parents have the choice at home what there children watch and should not be subjected to something that is hard for a young child to understand, without warning.

Everyone wants MMc back with her parents and keeping teh story in the news is a good idea, but young children are too sensitive and not have the capacity to understand the situatiob like we adults do.

biddzy01,

'I am quite sure that if any of your children were taken by a peadaphile or for whatever reason you would all be doing as much as you could to get your children back. Mind you reading some of your comments I'm not so sure that you would be bothered.'

if anyone is an idiot, it's you!!

FB x

sorry!

Look, as I just said, all this talk about teaching kids about stranger danger, warning them about wandering off & role playing kidnap attempts is totally irrelevant to the Madeleine case. This girl was snatched from her bed while she slept. What on earth can children 'learn' from that? To be terrified of their bed? Not to go to sleep?
It's not their job to protect themselves from the zillion to one chance that a maniac might creep into the house and steal them from their bed! I think it is almost abusive to let little children think this is even a possibility.

How would knowing about "stranger danger" have prevented Madeleine McCann being taken from her room, exactly?

And the main thrust of the argument is that it should be up to parents to decide how and when to educate their children about these things, is that not the case?

Charming bidzy01!
Of course we all want MMC to be found asap, but it is all about picking your target audience for the ad, and in this case it was way off the mark! All us parents are already very painfully aware. Young children do not need to be exposed to this - they are not the ones out looking for her!

And any rate - the ad said 'snatched from her bed' so children are going to think this is a common thing to happen. I am sure the ad does not illustrate MMC's parents were absent at the time. So my child is going to be given incomplete information and worry about it.

Sorry but no, my child will NOT worry about this.

sisterGoldenHair - it really isn't a dangerous world. It is a wonderful world with some dangers in it. And the danger from strangers is vanishingly small. It's so sad that children are growning up thinking that the world is such a dangerous place that they have to be fearful all the time. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could start a Mumsnet campaign to Reclaim the Outside for our children?

Lapin: "And the main thrust of the argument is that it should be up to parents to decide how and when to educate their children about these things, is that not the case?"

EXACTLY!

my comments are addressed that points about parents deciding when to tell tell their children about stranger danger. the message should be appropriate for audience ie not highlighting the taken from bed aspect to young children.

stranger danger and what happened to Madeleine are two different things entirely. Madeleine didn't wander off with a stranger, she disappeared from her bed, she wasn't awake, so there's nothing she could have done to prevent it from happening. Thus there is no need for children to even know it happened if parents don't want them to.

also, what are those parents who feel that their children need to know about Madeleine going to tell them if she is found dead? That she was taken while she was sleeping and then murdered?

I must be really laid back because I just don't see what all the fuss is about, honestly. I wouldn't have batted an eyelid if the advert had come on and my sons aged 5 and almost 3 would have been too busy eating popcorn and squabbling over their seats to take any notice. If they had become upset I would have just said a little girl was lost and that is why it is important to stay close to mummy when we are out. Job done. If it was my child who had been taken I would be doing everything the McCann's are to try and get them back, ill advised or not. The comments about the fund which is raised are appalling even for Mumsnet. If people want to donate money its got nothing to do with you and if you don't want to donate then don't, simple. But passing comment because they are well paid people as if somehow they don't deserve any help is just beyond small mindedness. Will have to parp myself at this point.

i didnt have to tell my 5 year or 4 year old about madeleine - one child went to the same resort a couple of weeks later and was mesmerised by it all. also all the children seemed to have talked about it already. so i had to find answers to questions from my children. one mother found out her child knew about it when she started crying when she was told they were going on holiday to portugal.

bossy yes but i dont want my 8 year old ot see it

that cryign baotu portugal thing is TRAGIC imo

WannaBe - that is one of the reasons I have shielded dd. Because hope against hope I don't think the outcome is going to be nice. And I am not going to explain that to a 4 year old, who should be worrying about playdoh and what socks to wear with her pink dress.

We are all so obsessed with the media, and it is not doing our children any favours. We are as parents way to anxious, and as a result our children have no childhood.

I vividly remember moving from Holland to the UK to go to uni. This advice from my parents is etched on my brain:
MUM: Please be careful, don't go out on your own, England is full of rapists and murderers.
DAD: Don't be silly, it is as safe as anywhere in the world, but in England the press tells of every attack in triplicate.

I think my dad was right.

think half the reception children seemed to be going to portugal in the last break. and they all seem to know about maddy.

I have just had a call from cineworld to say the MMC advert will now only be shown with films rated 15 and above.

I think this is sensible.

I would do whatever I could to get any lost child safe home again. If I could think of one thing I could do to help the McCanns I would do it now.

I complained because I think it is a right of any child including my own to believe they can sleep safely in their beds at night.

Mine know about it already though, in the area where we live the grandparents live too and we go to the same church. There are yellow ribbons everywhere but to my knowledge the school haven't had said anything to them, well ds1 hasn't said anything anyway. He asked me what the ribbons were for and I just said a little girl who was lost. If they know already can't see the problem with the advert in the cinema. Just my view but obviously everyone feels strongly about it so they've stopped it.

"I would do whatever I could to get any lost child safe home again. If I could think of one thing I could do to help the McCanns I would do it now."

well said slowreader and I am sure everyone who is anti this campaign ad being shown to small children would agree with you

btu she aint in ENgland is she?

But bosscat, I think a lot of people had problems with the emotive wording of the cinema ad.

It is one thing a child knowing a little girl is lost. Quite another for that child to be told a little girl was 'snatched from her bed'

The first may give a sensitive child nightmares. The second will give a sensitive child nightmares.

The key question is: will showing a film about Madeleine to parents of young children watching Shrek help find her? I would say there is no group of people on the planet than the Shrek-going parent public, more aware of M's plight, more likely to have passed on any information they had 2 months ago.

It serves no useful function at all.

spot on

I agree Dullwitch.

hippipotami - spot on