"... an average of 12 people die there annually, according to park statistics." http://www.cbsnews.com/news/texas-man-falls-350-feet-to-his-death-at-grand-canyon/I'd say context matters a lot. Like how dangerous the environment is.
Well, contextually speaking what's the percentage of children killed near or around their home versus a zoo?
That's a good question. Though it would also have to factor in how often kids are left unwatched near their home and how often that happens in zoos. Generally I think it comes down to how dangerous people perceive zoos to be. Minds seem a bit split about that.
Zoos are clearly safe and aimed to be a family oriented affair. Like I've said above, more children are hurt at fairs than at zoos and we're neither demonizing people for letting their children ride rides nor shutting down fairs. There is an inherent risk in being human. Petting zoos are things despite some of those animals that are 99.99% of the time nice and cuddly yet can still hurt children. There is a level of risk that we have to say, ok, it's acceptable. It's like air travel. Some of us will die, we still fly, we still consider it safe. Hell it's like normal travel by car. Throwing the dice every time yet it's an acceptable risk. We don't have to like the risks, we can try to mitigate them but I don't think that every situation automatically carries blame with it. I think it's possible neither the parents nor the operators can be blamed for everything, there's times where they both could be and times where just one or the other. Without knowing exactly how this went down I can't say who, if anyone, carries any blame for this incident.
When my son was 3, he once got away from me and ran into the street. I was kneeled down tying his shoe, when a guy tapped me on the shoulder to tell me I had dropped something. In that instant that I turned around, distracted, my son darted into the street. God smiled on us that day, and I was able to snatch him up before tragedy struck. If things had turned out badly, would I be considered a shitty parent? It's so easy to judge from the comfort of your keyboard; none of us were there. Kids can get into shit in the blink of an eye; if you don't have kids you can't relate to the experience.
Are these the same over-reactionary people in both threads? Seems important for your argument.
Neogaf !!!
What a thoughtful and sensitive comment. You baffoon.
Of course they deserve a settlement. People get settlements just for slipping in a supermarket; you don't think this child should be compensated for falling into a gorilla habitat?
I actually disagree. You shouldn't get compensated for circumventing a safety feature. Slipping in a supermarket, depends, did they fail to clean up a spill or mark a wet floor or did the person just trip?
Yeah, okay. They will absolutely get something. If a 4 year old can jump in that enclosure at will, regardless of where his parents were, that enclosure is not safe for the public and safety measures need to be updated. You find me one court that won't find that zoo liable for damages.
