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| Everyone's child | Everyone's child |
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| By Megan Lane BBC News Magazine The swell of media coverage about four-year-old Madeleine McCann, missing for more than a fortnight, has prompted some to question why, in a world where tragedy befalls thousands every day, so much attention has been focused on one girl. | By Megan Lane BBC News Magazine The swell of media coverage about four-year-old Madeleine McCann, missing for more than a fortnight, has prompted some to question why, in a world where tragedy befalls thousands every day, so much attention has been focused on one girl. |
| Yellow ribbons flutter around the village green in Rothley, the Leicestershire home of Madeleine McCann, the four-year-old who went missing 18 days ago during a family holiday in Portugal. | Yellow ribbons flutter around the village green in Rothley, the Leicestershire home of Madeleine McCann, the four-year-old who went missing 18 days ago during a family holiday in Portugal. |
| Such a reaction is to be expected when tragedy strikes a tight-knit community. | Such a reaction is to be expected when tragedy strikes a tight-knit community. |
| But in this case, the community affected has grown exponentially. England's cricketers wore yellow ribbons for the lost girl during the first test against the West Indies. So, too, did many MPs last Wednesday, when Madeleine's aunt came to meet Gordon Brown and John Prescott (Tony Blair being otherwise engaged at the White House). | But in this case, the community affected has grown exponentially. England's cricketers wore yellow ribbons for the lost girl during the first test against the West Indies. So, too, did many MPs last Wednesday, when Madeleine's aunt came to meet Gordon Brown and John Prescott (Tony Blair being otherwise engaged at the White House). |
| An appeal is made to crowds at the Rugby Union cup final And Madeleine's distinctive eyes - one with its pupil bleeding into the iris - stared down at the crowds watching Saturday's FA Cup in London and last week's Uefa cup final in Glasgow. Her familiar features grace thousands of "missing" posters in the UK, Portugal and further afield. | An appeal is made to crowds at the Rugby Union cup final And Madeleine's distinctive eyes - one with its pupil bleeding into the iris - stared down at the crowds watching Saturday's FA Cup in London and last week's Uefa cup final in Glasgow. Her familiar features grace thousands of "missing" posters in the UK, Portugal and further afield. |
| It is unusual for a small child to go missing without a trace the majority of child abductions involve a family member. The rarity helps explain why coverage has, at times, reached saturation levels - prompting a handful of people to complain to the BBC that it is giving too much time to the story. | |
| Yet for many, Madeleine is so young she encapsulates the very essence of childhood - happiness, innocence, vulnerability. Today children mature earlier, but childhood itself is prolonged by the rising school leaving age and "boomerang" offspring who can no longer afford to fly the family nest. And to lose a child is to lose something priceless. | Yet for many, Madeleine is so young she encapsulates the very essence of childhood - happiness, innocence, vulnerability. Today children mature earlier, but childhood itself is prolonged by the rising school leaving age and "boomerang" offspring who can no longer afford to fly the family nest. And to lose a child is to lose something priceless. |
| In the eyes of actuaries, at least, that was not always so. Once, if parents insured their child, the payout on their death covered lost earnings. By the 1930s, the loss was considered emotional rather than economic, says Professor Hugh Cunningham, author of The Invention of Childhood. | In the eyes of actuaries, at least, that was not always so. Once, if parents insured their child, the payout on their death covered lost earnings. By the 1930s, the loss was considered emotional rather than economic, says Professor Hugh Cunningham, author of The Invention of Childhood. |
| "The pay-outs became much greater and that indicates the value we've put on children over the past 100 years." | "The pay-outs became much greater and that indicates the value we've put on children over the past 100 years." |
| Romantic view | Romantic view |
| Today's view of childhood - that it's a special time, uniquely associated with the right to be happy - dates from the Romantic movement of 200 years ago, he says. | Today's view of childhood - that it's a special time, uniquely associated with the right to be happy - dates from the Romantic movement of 200 years ago, he says. |
| Rallying support - family of Madeleine at the House of Commons"People like Blake and Wordsworth regarded the child as innocent, coming almost direct from God. The view was that a child should be brought up in contact with nature; the child should be happy, protected, dependent, not work. | Rallying support - family of Madeleine at the House of Commons"People like Blake and Wordsworth regarded the child as innocent, coming almost direct from God. The view was that a child should be brought up in contact with nature; the child should be happy, protected, dependent, not work. |
| "That's still with us, and was probably at its height in the early 20th Century when there was almost a worship of childhood - Peter Pan not wanting to grow up, and Shirley Temple being one of the biggest stars of the day." | "That's still with us, and was probably at its height in the early 20th Century when there was almost a worship of childhood - Peter Pan not wanting to grow up, and Shirley Temple being one of the biggest stars of the day." |
| On any day of any week, countless children around the world suffer from the sort of upbringing that would appal many Westerners. Child soldiers, sweatshop workers, victims of nature and man-made disasters all live an unenviable existence. | On any day of any week, countless children around the world suffer from the sort of upbringing that would appal many Westerners. Child soldiers, sweatshop workers, victims of nature and man-made disasters all live an unenviable existence. |
| But when disaster strikes closer to home and to child one half recognises - many see their own daughter, sister, grand-daughter or cousin in Madeleine's round face and open smile - it brings to the surface our darkest and least rational fears. | But when disaster strikes closer to home and to child one half recognises - many see their own daughter, sister, grand-daughter or cousin in Madeleine's round face and open smile - it brings to the surface our darkest and least rational fears. |
| "There are thousands of distressing things happening every day, but this has touched me as much - it collides so much with my safe little world," says Claude Knights, of the charity Kidscape. | "There are thousands of distressing things happening every day, but this has touched me as much - it collides so much with my safe little world," says Claude Knights, of the charity Kidscape. |
| Madeleine's face... bypasses the logical centres in one's brain and that deep primal instinct to protect is triggered Sue PalmerAuthor, Toxic Childhood Editors' blog: Too much from Portugal? "There's a campaign around her because people feel they're doing something positive, more so than they might feel by putting money in a tin for Darfur. Little Madeleine represents that angel quality, that innocence, we like to think children have." | Madeleine's face... bypasses the logical centres in one's brain and that deep primal instinct to protect is triggered Sue PalmerAuthor, Toxic Childhood Editors' blog: Too much from Portugal? "There's a campaign around her because people feel they're doing something positive, more so than they might feel by putting money in a tin for Darfur. Little Madeleine represents that angel quality, that innocence, we like to think children have." |
| This is perhaps heightened by media coverage which enhances the vulnerability of the victim, says Professor Cunningham. | This is perhaps heightened by media coverage which enhances the vulnerability of the victim, says Professor Cunningham. |
| Urge to protect | Urge to protect |
| The McCann family's efforts to keep the search in the spotlight cannot alone account for the level of interest and sense of shared concern for Madeleine's wellbeing. | The McCann family's efforts to keep the search in the spotlight cannot alone account for the level of interest and sense of shared concern for Madeleine's wellbeing. |
| In its first 24 hours, the website set up to find her received more than 25 million hits. David Beckham, Martin Johnson and Cristiano Ronaldo have appealed for her safe return. Among those pledging money for the £2.5m reward for information are JK Rowling, Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, Wayne Rooney and Michael Vaughan. | In its first 24 hours, the website set up to find her received more than 25 million hits. David Beckham, Martin Johnson and Cristiano Ronaldo have appealed for her safe return. Among those pledging money for the £2.5m reward for information are JK Rowling, Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, Wayne Rooney and Michael Vaughan. |
| At a vigil in RothleyJust as people who narrowly miss a plane or train that goes on to crash can experience shock that takes them unawares, a child in peril can have a similar effect. After the bodies of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were found, counsellors worked with Soham families who intensely felt the loss of someone else's child - it could have been theirs. | At a vigil in RothleyJust as people who narrowly miss a plane or train that goes on to crash can experience shock that takes them unawares, a child in peril can have a similar effect. After the bodies of Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman were found, counsellors worked with Soham families who intensely felt the loss of someone else's child - it could have been theirs. |
| "It's in our genes to protect our offspring and the littler they are, the more that protective instinct kicks in," says Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood and the woman behind last autumn's Hold on to Childhood campaign, in which 110 academics, writers and childhood experts backed calls to protect the quality of children's lives. | "It's in our genes to protect our offspring and the littler they are, the more that protective instinct kicks in," says Sue Palmer, author of Toxic Childhood and the woman behind last autumn's Hold on to Childhood campaign, in which 110 academics, writers and childhood experts backed calls to protect the quality of children's lives. |
| But Ms Palmer worries that such cases will, in the long run, damage today's children. Not because of the dangerous strangers lurking in our midst, but because the fear is all out of proportion to the risk posed. | But Ms Palmer worries that such cases will, in the long run, damage today's children. Not because of the dangerous strangers lurking in our midst, but because the fear is all out of proportion to the risk posed. |
| "Madeleine's face, Sarah Payne's face, Holly and Jessica in their red shirts under the clock - because these are vivid images, they bypass the logical centres in one's brain and that deep primal instinct to protect is triggered. It makes us more and more fearful and this is damaging in itself to childhood." | "Madeleine's face, Sarah Payne's face, Holly and Jessica in their red shirts under the clock - because these are vivid images, they bypass the logical centres in one's brain and that deep primal instinct to protect is triggered. It makes us more and more fearful and this is damaging in itself to childhood." |
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