Police search for missing 5 year old in Wales

LOAM said:
Because its a quiet cul-de-sac of a small village, its not a busy road with loads of risk elements. I'm not saying its right but I am saying its common and always has been in that environment. The feeling of being "safer" in a quiet village is why people want to live in them (amongst other things). If a new vehicle was in that area then its likely that it would be seen but it was'nt other than by the other children. To me this means its either incredibly bad luck that no one spotted it or the kids were mistaken.

The Police have just booted all the press out of the conference for some reason and some chap has just said mountain rescue are now involved. How likely is it that shes wandered off do you think ?
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I totally agree that that is a common feeling but my points from the previous post address why I think that opinion is poor. Quiet areas can be more risky than busy ones. It's why I always make sure my sister takes the busy main roads back to her flat when she's leaving ours, rather than taking the slightly quicker backstreets. Dodgy types love quiet backstreets. Cul-de-sacs might be an exception though, I agree, because they make for poor "cover" I guess...

Anyway I've got my fingers crossed for this poor kid. Here's hoping.
 
mothermachine said:
I totally agree that that is a common feeling but my points from the previous post address why I think that opinion is poor. Quiet areas can be more risky than busy ones. It's why I always make sure my sister takes the busy main roads back to her flat when she's leaving ours, rather than taking the slightly quicker backstreets. Dodgy types love quiet backstreets. Cul-de-sacs might be an exception though, I agree, because they make for poor "cover" I guess...

Anyway I've got my fingers crossed for this poor kid. Here's hoping.
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You may think that opinion is poor but it does not change the fact that crime rates are lower.... I live on a farm next to a town which is not far from Machynlleth (where this girl has gone missing).

Our house is left unlocked pretty much 24/7, keys are left in cars and 30 grand tractors its a common occurrence around here because bugger all ever happens and crime rates are low.
 
Child abduction is this months news flavour then.

Awful for the little girl, I hope she is found well, but seriously guys you're going nuts over her playing outside at 5 years old?

I played quite happily with my friends when I was that age, outside. I walked 3/4 mile to school and back from 6 years old.

Another thing, the chances of being killed and abducted or subjected to a hideous kidnapping and abuse is pretty much the same as it's always been. Not every person lurking around every corner is a rampant paedo and murderer. You just hear about it more these days and in an ever more connected world the hysteria builds to a point that it becomes "fact".
 
Feel so sorry for the child involved, just wonder if it will turn out to be yet another family related thing. I'm of the opinion that a 5 year old should not have been out unsupervised at that time of day/night, the parents/carer are of course not fully to blame but they should have been more responsible imo.
 
I'm just saying, sometimes parents can't watch their children for every second. If they feel happy that the child is very nearby and with other friends/brothers/sisters/parents and safe then often they will let them play around the corner. It's not an easy balancing act as a parent allowing your child freedom to play and explore vs watching them for every second and accompanying them everywhere. I wish people wouldn't just jump on the "poor parenting bandwagon" so easily. However.....

7:30 at night now is darkness though really, so that's very late. I don't really let even my eldest out after dark. Also it depends on the nature of the road/area/street/courtyard/cul de sac, and how easily you can see/hear where your kids are I suppose. In this instance it could have been literally across the road within sight. Also might have been hundreds of yards away.
 
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You cannot compare to life 20-25 years ago to what it is now, when I was a kid the oldest to the youngest were known by name to every person in the street and the whole walk to school you would be greeted by "hi" not like it is now where your be hard pushed to find 5 people in your road who now your name let alone your kids, things have changed too much for kids to be left outside alone.

I wont even let my kids play in the front garden, it would take seconds for one of them to be taken, all that risk for a lifetime of heartache, I could not forgive myself if that happend to my family.
 
It doesn't matter if its a quite village or London. The end result is a fiver year old shouldn't be out on there own anytime of day without at least an adult watching them.

People basing stuff on when they were kids shouldn't be using that as a argument. If your parents allowed that to happen then that's up to them maybe times were different or things have changed. But if your a parent you should give your children the best level of care available to them. Thats watching them or placing them in a safe enviroment which is supervised. Children at that age have no idea of how evil people can be and whats worse is even the other children she was with wouldnt have been able to stop someone taking her away.

Also I hate this its a village I knew everyone in that village attitude unless your village was Emmerdale with 30 people living there and no one ever paased through or came to that village it rubbish way of thinking. Machynlleth has a pop of over 2000 people no one who lives there knows everyone exactly or what type of crazy person they are in their heads or behind closed doors.

Whole thing makes me feel sick as a parent.
 
Goberpiles316 said:
You cannot compare to life 20-25 years ago to what it is now, when I was a kid the oldest to the youngest were known by name to every person in the street and the whole walk to school you would be greeted by "hi" not like it is now where your be hard pushed to find 5 people in your road who now your name let alone your kids, things have changed too much for kids to be left outside alone.

I wont even let my kids play in the front garden, it would take seconds for one of them to be taken, all that risk for a lifetime of heartache, I could not forgive myself if that happend to my family.
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agreed, I think times have changed, I used to walk to junior school (year 6) on my own, but in them days everyone knew everyone, these days I don't really know anyone and don't trust anyone. Having said that - there is 5 to 6 year olds that play outside on my estate and it's a new decent estate, but I wouldn't let mine out unless with their older sister or on the back garden.
 
Duggan said:
Also I hate this its a village I knew everyone in that village attitude unless your village was Emmerdale with 30 people living there and no one ever paased through or came to that village it rubbish way of thinking.
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Emmerdale has an incredibly high murder / death rate. I think even New Orleans would be safer tbh.
 
I'm a parent too but it's crazy to think that people are any more evil or likely to murder, abduct or abuse someone than they were 10, 20, or even 30 years ago.

The world might not seem be such a friendly place in general (that's what we're led to believe by our beloved media) but the paranoia fielded in this thread astonishes me.
 
LOAM said:
Emmerdale has an incredibly high murder / death rate. I think even New Orleans would be safer tbh.
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Poor example but trying to highlight a small village where you only ever see basically the same people. Difference being is that they have a never ending supply of extras highlighting the point of people visiting villages. As Emmerdale is a program crime rates cant be compared.
 
Absolutely. Times have changed. My parents, not even my grandparents but my own folks, just one generation above me, still think it's ok for a young baby to be in a car in their parent's lap, not in a child seat. Amazing! It's a bit like smoking. We can look back now and see that it's terrible for people's health but back in the day it just wasn't known or cared about when it was.

Times change, attitudes change. The world is a more busy and dangerous place and you need to adjust to be safe within it. The attitude that it's ok for kids this young to be out on their own unsupervised in the dark is just total rubbish and needs to stop.
 
jaybee said:
This child was not on her own, not that I condone her being out at that time either.
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A 5 year old out with a bunch of other 5ish-year olds is basically the same as being out alone. 5 year olds lack street-smarts and good common sense at the best of times, let alone when they're with their mates trying to have fun, show off etc. If it turns out to be the case that her mates saw her getting into a van and didn't stop her then this shows clearly that kids of that age simply aren't with it properly yet. Not enough to be out with no adult supervision.
 
Perhaps she has run off to France with her teacher? ;)

In all seriousness I hope she turns up unharmed, but if it's true that she got into someone's van then it doesn't look good unfortunately.
 
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