I should know better than to read the comments. But I was drawn like a moth to a flame, reading one and then the next and then the next, finding each more ignorant and cruel than the one before. A two-year-old died after being snatched by an alligator off the edge of a beach at a Disney resort in what can only be described as a freak accident, and the Internet is filled with vitriolic judgment. WHAT IS WRONG WITH PEOPLE? Below are some of the comments which I am not attributing to the authors because while apparently they are not embarrassed, I am embarrassed for them.
Well if you’re that much of a moron to let your kid go swimming at 9pm in any freshwater in Florida, you shouldn’t be a parent…
Tragic but you really have to be criminally negligent to let a toddler anywhere near an unprotected aquatic area in Florida when it’s common knowledge that gators are everywhere here.
It’s terrible, but at 9:00 PM my two year olds were safe in their beds.
Arrest the parents!
A 3 year old at the zoo…a 2 year old at Disney. Put down the cell phones and watch your children! Who let’s toddlers roam on their own!
Irresponsible parents allowed this to happen. I blame the parents for not watching their child. They should be charged with neglect. If they can’t watch their child, then they shouldn’t have it!!!
I’ve thought for days about this family and the unimaginable pain they must feel. I’ve thought about how life for them is forever and inextricably altered. And I’ve angrily wondered how the world has degenerated to the point that strangers can make anonymous comments on line that I seriously doubt they would have the courage to make if not cowardly hiding behind the invisible smokescreen that the Internet provides.
A family is grieving the loss of their child. Think about that for a moment.
A friend of mine who is more tolerant than I suggested to me that in today’s scary world, some people have to cast blame as a way of dealing with their own anxiety. She may be right, but I still don’t understand how empathy takes a back seat to cruel judgment. Reading the comments to the articles about this tragic accident suggest that there are a lot of parents in the world who truly believe that they would never exercise less than perfect judgment. It’s enormously naive to be so confident in your parenting perfection. Let’s hope life never deals those parents such a tragic card.
