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.

Goodnight darling, sleep well!

The decision was not taken out of my hands. My kids already knew. Of course some kids are upset far more easily than others. Some sensitivity to your own particular child is required! Im not telling anyone how to raise thier kids im simply trying to show you that that kids cannot be hidden from everything and anything that you choose. They will find out at some point and then what will you all do? Will the world end at that point? no you will deal with it! So just get on with it and face up to it - at a level that they can emotionally handle - as you see fit. I do not agree with this idea that they will never know - of course they will!

"Some sensitivity to your own particular child is required" And displaying it on a screen several feet high is so sensitive to the needs of particular children isn't it?

My daughter is now 6 and dispite my efforts at raising her awareness of the dangers of strangers she still will talk to strangers! I am constantly trying to teach her, to make her aware that bad things do happen! Of course im not going to tell her what a rapist might do, or how she might be murdered, but it does not harm her to know that any one of those strangers may be not as innocent as she would like to think they are! She needs to know this kind of information, she needs to know that it happens!

"So just get on with it and face up to it - at a level that they can emotionally handle - as you see fit."

Well, we'd like to, but they've seen this advert about a child being snatched, you see, which they couldn't emotionally handle...

"at a level that they can emotionally handle - as you see fit"

Yes, that's the whole point of what we have all been saying all along. As we see fit, not as Cineworld sees fit. Sigh.

What she doesn't need is for that information to be shoved in her face unexpectedly when she's gone to see a children's film!

Haychee, my ds aged 7 doesnt talk to stranger and was offered a strawberry by a the security guard in the out of hours doctors waiting room. He said no as he knows he is not to accept food treats from strangers. I said then it was ok and he had one.

My point is that obviously your way of handling it isnt working if your child speaks to strangers despite you filling her head with the nightmarish truth/reality of a hwat a minority of the scum of society can do.

I have not exposed ds to this detail and he understands not to speak to strangers.

But this has NOTHING to do with talking to strangers or wandering off! Knowing that a little girl was snatched from her bed will not help your child or my children in any way. They can't defend themselves against that - that's OUR job. All it can possibly do is make them frightened of something that won't happen and against which they have defence. I think you are mad.
And I feel sorry for any child who is constantly told the world is full of bad people.

Why the hell does any child NEED to know that one kid was snatched from her bed miles away? They don't.

true wells.

When I was 5 an old man asked me to go to his car as his wife wanted a closer look at my beautiful hair. My sister was in the shop (9 years) but I said that my mummy was in the shop and she was looking out of the window. THe man got really cross and said I was a rude and horrible child. I didnt tell my mum straight away as my sister said I shouldnt. By the time i told her the man was long gone.

THe point is my mum didnt fill my head with horror stories but did the stranger danger thing with me and it worked.

i do not constantly tell my kids the world is full of bad people! You fool! Nor are they at all frightened by what i have told them. I told them because i knew they would hear about it, either form over hearing my conversation or by watching the news or by hearing it from others at school! As it turns out, they campaign is now at the cinema and being forced upon us so i am glad i had already told them! I cant beleive it has been so long since she was snatched and all of you have not told your kids! I wonder if they do know anything that you dont realise they know?!
Also, it is purely my daughters outgoing character that makes her want to talk to people, my point is that the constant reminder of the danger is a useful resource for me to use when trying (without scaring) to teach her!
Tact, is the way forward! I for one do not have a problem in the slightest that the campaign is shown everywhere! It is up to us as parents to teach our kids not the cinema! Get in there first before someone else tells them!
Surely you agree that a childs imagination will fill the gaps or misunderstandings that they may have about something? Tell it to them straight (without scaring them) before the imagination kicks in!

But Haychee - the stranger danger talk is of no relevance to the Madeleine McCanan incident. There is no lesson that a child can learn from it.

Nor do i fill their heads with horror stories! Tact again! Yes a beautiful little girl is missing, she is lost, noone knows where she is or who has her! That is all they need to know! I do not say, that if you talk to a stranger then that neans they will come and snatch you from your bed when your sleeping and rape you and then kill you - honestly would anyone say such stuff!
My point is purely, that they cannot be hidden from the truth! They will find out! There is danger in the world and they need to be aware of that and that is all!
I hope the madeleine campaign will go everywhere and all kids are taught by the campaign!

I've only just seen this thread and fwiw when I took ds to see Shrek on Saturday night I was also cross about this advert being shown. I am glad I am not alone.

A stranger cam into madeleines room! There lies the danger!

I don't know the age of your children but I don't think you can make an effective how to stay safe lesson out of the incident in Portugal. There are no precautions a child can take, no life skills they need to develop to prepare them to face such an experience. The advert was for the parents and I imagine that it was in order to raise funds.

I'm interested to know why you think special reference should be made to this case. In terms of educating children to keep them safe, I think it has little relevance. I'm not sure how I could prepare my children for the possibility that someone may come and remove them from their beds at night, even if I wanted to do so. Particularly as no-one knows the circumstances of her removal.

The lesson they can learn from it is that it was not a monster from under the bed that ate her up! Nor did she disappear in a puff of smoke! I would not like my kids to make up their own scenario in their heads as to what happened to madeleine, i prefer that they get the facts from me first. Then if they do hear anything else they are able to talk to me about it.

But how much do they need to know? My ds, who is 5, knows that she went missing on holiday, and that people are looking very hard for her. Does he need to know more than that? What would be the benefit to anyone if he did?

I can understand preferring to tell the truth than allowing them to believe in monsters under the bed. I'm sorry, I didn't read the whole thread. I didn't realise that your children thought something otherworldly had happened.

Have you moved on in your argument then, from saying that this advert should be screened, to saying that all parents should discuss the case with their children?

Because those are two very different points.

Ah. So my ds, who has no idea that she was removed from her bed, does not need to know the whole story then.