I was just utterly stunned by a few of the answers to the linked question, and am wondering how anyone could possibly arrive at the conclusion that a 4-year-old child could be responsible for his own death. Would you mind looking over some of the answers and voicing your opinions on the whole matter, but particularly the 'dumb kid' remarks?
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Aoz5pFjLkadzFHdxKjfZi7Tty6IX?qid=20070704191131AAcGSFB&show=7#profile-info-3ThSyQ9Aaa
2007-07-04 19:37:26 · 28 answers · asked by I WALK FUNNY 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
I sincerely hope that none of the people giving those answers ever have children.
The fireworks should have been out of his reach, behind a closest door is NOT good enough. They should have been on an unreachable shelf or locked up.
And where did the kid get the matches or the lighter to light them...as Pangel said in response to the initial question "double stupidity".
As I said, I really hope the people who gave some of those answers are sterile!!
Regards
The Peaceful Atheist
EDIT: In retrospect, I think the people who gave the 'dumb kid' answers are just plain sick. How can a normal human being say 'lol, what a dumb kid'. How twisted.
In my opinion, what happened to the child was at the least, manslaughter, almost murder by neligence.
2007-07-04 19:57:35 · answer #1 · answered by . 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
Those people are messed up. I'm sorry a 4-year-old doesn't have to capacity to realize that one shouldn't set off fireworks in the house. When was he supposed to have picked that information up? Last year when he was 3? The father should have stored the fireworks on a high shelf. Matches, lighters, or whatever fire source should have also been stored where the child couldn't get it. Also, what has happened to telling children they aren't supposed to touch certain things or go certain places? When I was that little, I wasn't allowed to open cabinets or really get into anything. I had to ask a grown-up. It is a truly tragic case and his family will have to live with it. As far as the people who answered, all I have to say is try to develop some empathy and maybe think before you answer.
2007-07-05 00:51:54 · answer #2 · answered by Purdey EP 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Wow - it's supposedly the four year olds fault and not the dad's fault? Where do these people get their logic and why are they being allowed to potentially breed.
Yes, the fireworks should have been put up higher, yes the matches should have been out of reach, yes the boy was old enough to have observes how to light them, may have even been allowed to light a few, thought they were so cool that he just couldn't wait, so he got them on his own, without having any idea as to the safety issues involved and what they could actually do to him. THAT is normal four year old behavior!
To blame a child from not knowing something no one has taught him is ludicrious. To think a four year old should automatically have access to all the knowledge an adult does it idiotic and ignorant of children.
Just - those people who blamed the preschooler - PRESCHOOLER- baffle me beyond words. I truly do not know what to say about those people.
2007-07-05 04:51:52 · answer #3 · answered by Cheese Fairy - Mummified 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
My only real question is: how did a 4 year old know how to work matches/a lighter?
That is the only place where the blame MAY lay--someone had to show him how to use them, and that they were to be used on fireworks.
I don't think the kid could possibly have been dumb if he could have connected all these dots on his own. I do definitely think there are differences in intelligence in kids, but this is not the act of a stupid kid. This is an accident. Children learn from trial and error, and the poor thing was simply learning with a bad, bad, bad end result.
2007-07-04 19:47:11 · answer #4 · answered by Esma 6 · 5⤊ 0⤋
It was really just that V Dezz. Yes,a truly sickening attitude. No decent person would hold a four year old child responsible for itself. I have a four-year-old. I have to watch him constantly. I or someone else. I don't blame the parents either - except that the fireworks should not have been in the home; they should have been in a locked garage,at least in a home with children in it. I wouldn't call them entirely blameless but this was so unforseeable a circumstance,that the boy would actually succeed in setting them off even in the event he found them. I feel great compassion for the parents and my prayers are with the poor victim. It's a very,very sad case. As for V Dezz...well,I hate to use blocks but sometimes people just go too far. That "dumb kid" remark shouldn't even be online,it should be deleted. I missed this one when it came up so thanks for drawing it to our attention. The press account quoted sounded objective to me,by the way.
2007-07-05 12:32:00 · answer #5 · answered by Galahad 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Maybe they hate children, maybe they thought they were being witty, maybe they are immature children themselves and lack perspective. It's pretty difficult to understand someone who would blame a 4-year old child for his own death.
edit: I agree that the father might blame himself, but I dont' think that's punishment. that's like saying that Lizzie Bordon shouldn't have been punished because she was an orphan (ok, maybe I'm going a bit far, but you get the idea). It's a tragedy that a father had to learn a parenting lesson through the death of his son. At the very least, the father is guilty of criminal negligence. Someone here suggested that he shouldn't be punished, but what if his negligence resulted in the death of a neighbor child? You couldn't make the argument that his loss was punishment enough. Clearly the punishment shouldn't be based on who the victim was.
2007-07-04 20:19:38 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
I strongly urged D Vezzed or whatever to never breed, as she would surely inflict torture on that child.
To blame a 4 year old????? Good god.
4 year old children's brains are not developed enough yet to discern the difference between holding a sparkler and lighting what dad has shown them in the upstairs closet. He knew he shouldn't do it, but he didn't know why. Children aren't dumb -they are children, and their brains have lots and lots of development left to go. They cannot think in the abstract, they cannot reason in the same way AT ALL as an adult.
Sadly, what is usually the cause of such arrogant and thick remarks is the conditioned mind of the answerer. Their parents treated them as stupid, with little love or understanding, and they just pass it on. Abused children become abusers.....
2007-07-04 20:09:05 · answer #7 · answered by cosmicshaktifire? 5 · 5⤊ 0⤋
What I'd like to know is how the hell parents could flee without knowing for sure their kid is safe. That's the first thing. And second, you're right. A four year old can't be responsible for his own death. He's not stupid, he's just a kid. Like one of the answerers said, how did he have access to light up fireworks?
I am frightened that some people think it is "okay" that he died because god wanted him. I'm not even atheist and I know that remark is sick.
2007-07-04 19:55:02 · answer #8 · answered by rebekkah hot as the sun 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋
I particularly find some of these remarks stunning, and downright disgusting. A four year old needs to be kept in watchful range at all times, because they are capable of anything. They don't know any better. Losing focus and not paying attention to the child long enough for it to get ahold of something to light them with, light them and actually have had the time to find them before can only be regarded as bad parenting...
2007-07-04 19:44:50 · answer #9 · answered by Kirk 1 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Some of those answers made me wonder if the respondents to that question should be having kids themselves. One of the answerers brought up a good point surrounding the nature of the kid's death with the fireworks disaster being staged to cover up something greater. Either way, what a shame.
2007-07-04 19:46:29 · answer #10 · answered by Patrick the Carpathian, CaFO 7 · 4⤊ 0⤋