As a parent we take care of our kids, feed them clothe them, buy them things to entertain them. We are constantly trying to keep our children safe, making sure they don’t eat rat poison or touch fire. Sometimes though we might make poor parenting decision or turn our back for a second, most of the time those instances are met with a bump or bruise or maybe a burn. But on a rare occasion tragedy strikes, your child is eaten by an alligator, climbs into a gorilla pit, or accidentally gets locked in the car in the heat of summer just looking for his favorite toy. In the “connected” world we live in news like this doesn’t take long to reach the entire world… and the entire world has an opinion on it. What they would have done or wouldn’t have done, how much better of a parent they are, or even though they don’t have kids they’d “never let that happen”. Here’s the truth folks… you don’t know. Unless you’ve been in there, unless it’s happened to you, you don’t know and shaming the parents publicly does nothing to help the situation. Are some instances preventable? Absolutely. Are some instances neglect? Sure. Does it make it any less tragic if it happened to a family from the run down side of town with 4 or more kids living on government assistance or to a white collar family with 2.5 kids and a big house in a gated neighborhood? No, it doesn’t matter who it happens to. When a child is injured in an accident, preventable or not, it’s still tragic and for the most part the parents who have lost hat child are hurting and depending on the circumstances probably feeling a whole lot of guilt. So here is what I propose, instead of publically shaming these parents for accidents how about we show them compassion. Now I’m not talking about the abusers, or the ones that leave their children alone for hours upon hours while they go out to get drunk or high. I’m talking about loving parents to whom the unimaginable just happened, their child just died, maybe it was because they weren’t paying attention for a moment or maybe it was because they made a bad judgment call or maybe just maybe that child is strong willed and wanted to do something they were told they couldn’t do and got away from their parent. Kids are freakishly fast! I pray every day Sawyer doesn’t get away from me walking out of the house and run into the street. Accidents happen and it’s not our place to judge others. We should pray for them and hope that out of tragedy can come forgiveness and that they know that by grace they are saved.
Ashley
