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RE: I knew that water slide would kill someone.
August 10, 2016 at 8:31 pm
I don't think I'm over-protective of my kid, but when I'm with other people and their kid is doing something dangerous, I stop it.
Then the parent gets huffy because they think I'm judging their parenting skills, but I don't care.
I'm not going to look back on my life and lament about how I could have saved that kid but I didn't want to upset the parent.
If they don't like it they don't have to hang out with me.
One example is when I was bushwalking with a friend and I held my daughter's hand while we walked along a trail with a 20 metre drop on one side.
My friend let his son walk right along the edge while he walked a couple of metres back.
So I held his son's hand also.
Later he commented on it and said he wants his son to learn to look after himself.
I told him that that's not going to happen if he's dead at the bottom of a fucking cliff.
He didn't speak to me for a few weeks but we have been on outings since then. :-)
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RE: I knew that water slide would kill someone.
August 10, 2016 at 9:21 pm
What a terrible tragedy. I feel for the family of this boy. Sounds like it was a preventable death.
The issue of how protective parents should be could probably be a whole other thread.
My parents were mostly neglectful so I learned little from them on how to raise a kid. With decisions with my own child, I look to respected friends and my own gut instincts.
Every kid is different. Mine is naturally cautious and likely wouldn't go on a ride like the one that killed this boy.
Yet she needs to learn real-world stuff. What to do if she gets lost in a crowd? I've told her what type of strangers are ok to ask for help. Not all strangers are dangerous. The mother holding a baby might be an ok stranger; the grizzled man talking to himself and wearing heavy clothes in 90 degree heat, not so much.
I've shown my 9 year old how to get out of the car if I accidentally lock the keys in there and how to use a small kitchen knife to help me cut fruit and she managed to do it without blood spurting everywhere.
She goes outside by herself on our dead-end street to talk with neighbors and play with other kids ("Get home before dark!")
It would be easier to just say no to everything and watch over everything she does but then I would be extra worried someday when she's grown up and hasn't gradually learned how to make informed decisions for herself.
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