Why was little 9 year old Shannon Matthews walking home alone after school?

[unity]

Does anyone else let their 9 year old child walk home alone after school? If you do then you are lazy irresponsible idiots that have to stop now. I pray that they find her safe and sound.

[Rissy-chan]

How dare you assume the worst of them?! And the suggestion about forming a "lynch mob"- honestly!! It may have been extremely irresponsible, but many children walk home young and it's not the parents' fault that there are bad people out there who would take their child. It's an awful thing to be so negative about them- don't you think that they're suffering enough? You probably have NO IDEA what they're going through yet all you can do is criticize them!

Who knows why they let her walk home? The fact is that it's done now- no use making it any more painful for them than it already is! Our energies should be focused on finding the girl!!

God willing, she will be all right...

Rissy-chan

[angel]

because her parents couldn't be bothered to fetch the poor girl from the school themselves. These people don't bother looking after their kids properly. I really hope she is found soon.

[aires69uk]

Yeah I've been thinking exactly that. Both my wife and I looked at the route she normally walked, and we can't believe a parent would allow their child to walk that length of walk on her own. It's not so much the fact that she walked on her own as opposed to where she walked on her own. (The parents are not so called 'bad' but they are extremely irresponsible to say the very least).

[tiger!]

Who are you to judge!
Have you ever been to the area? every one seems to know each other and have a close community. Not every where is rough and we do need to give our kids some freedom. I move around alot and some areas i haven't let my kids out of sight other areas i have.
The parents don't need people like you playing the high and mighty when they're proberly feeling guilty and bad about everything right now. Lets just hope they get her back safe and sound. I'm sure if they do that they're never let her out they're sight again.

[EMA]

I agree - I have a 7 yr old girl and there would be no chance of me letting her walk anywhere on her own - let alone come home from school by herself.

I don't understand these parents who allow their kids to do things like going around on their own and then scream blue murder when something does happen.......

We live in a time when 'hind sight' just aint good enough - leaving kids alone in hotel rooms, letting children come home from school alone, us parents know we have to have eyes the back of your head for kids - so why do we make these stupid mistakes...........

[Lizzie]

yes my mom let me walk home.