Paranoia of a different kind

Last night we met friends in the pub and were talking about the ongoing conundrum that surrounds the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Our friends have a six year old daughter (going on 26) and they are going out to Portugal to stay with a relative who lives very close to Praia de Luz.

Well, what do you do? Chain your daughter to your side? That’s what I’d do. Not let her out of your sight for a moment – yup. Become utterly paranoid? Definitely. So where do you draw the line? Does everyone henceforth become frantic if they can’t see their child for 5 seconds? And what is going to be the knock on effect on the children?

How do you explain to a child that when you’re out walking the dog you say hello to strangers and chat, but when they don’t have a dog you avoid strangers? Then again, people are usually abducted by people they know, which negates the don’t talk to strangers argument.

I used to walk to school and walk home again, alone. The walk must have taken me about 15 or 20 minutes. This seems unthinkable now. I would have been taken from my parents by Social Services, citing neglect. What is the world coming to? And what is the alternative?