*it saddens me because it is obvious now that we don't live in the same world we did when we were children*

The world of Brady and Hindley? Of Fred West and his numerous victims?

www.guardian.co.uk/child/story/0,7369,679143,00.html

Child murder, even of this scale, is not a rarity. Child murder by a stranger *is* a rarity. In a less f___ up world, that would be good news. Parents who stop short of actively trying to kill their children stand a very good chnce of seeing them grow up to vandalise bus shelters, saplings, etc.

Spook

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by Pegasus
but child murder of this scale is a rarity

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What do you mean 'this scale'. TWO PEOPLE! Two people doesn't even make a scale, let alone wow others by it. What happened was terrible, but not rare. Every year there is at least two major cases like this (let alone how ever many minor cases). Granted this has been raised on a pedistal, like the Bulgan kid or Damiola Taylor, but it's not rare or shocking.

I'm not shocked by this story, at all. I've seen people do amazing, wonderful things, things that make the human race seem like angels. Of coarse there will be a flip side, humans are capable of evil too. People may not like it, but at least except it. There are paedophiles, there are child murders, rapists, thiefs, junkies... it goes on. It's news, the papers build it up as some great event, uncommon, like they've done here. But in six months they'll do the whole thing over again when another child is taken, then killed.

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by Pegasus
play nice now

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But Sydney stole my wolly pop

These children were 10 years old. Innocent, happy go lucky children.. loved by their parents and family alike.. whatever you say Kieran, it isshocking.. because twochildren were kidnapped together and murdered by (allegedly) people they knew and probably trusted. Little by little the innocence of childhood is being lost with monsters like these on the prowl. That's what's so shocking about this..and i agree, this is a thread about members of this board expressing their shock and sadness at the events of the last three weeks..

Being a mother myself, it would be my worst nightmare if something like this happened to one of my children.

The trouble is, these "monsters" (who are in fact human beings like the rest of us) have always been here, done this, and children's innocence has always been exploited and destroyed. This is by no means a new thing. The only thing that ever changes is the emphasis put on it and the way it is whipped up, whoever by. While I agree it's a tragedy for their families, it really isn't for the rest of us, because it doesn't *personally* affect anybody who wasn't related to them. We can sympathise, we can think "thank goodness it wasn't my child", and believe me I do, but further than that we can't go. Personally I feel that the whole thing stinks of voyeurism... "look at the poor parents, how devastated they must be, let's feed off their pain, let's watch while they go through this; let's visit the village and walk over these people's lives; let's drag our children along to howl at the accused". I have every sympathy for these people, I really do, but I think a sense of perspective is a healthy thing.

It just gets worse. After everything these families are going through someone decides to steal a book of condolence from Birmigham Cathedral. What kind of person does that???

A monster, probably.