And the Incompetent Parent of the Year Award goes to...

Child mauled to death in Pittsburgh Zoo

So, according to bystanders, the parents put their three-year-old kid on top of the safety wall, and he fell in and was predictably torn apart by African painted dogs.

Focus: What's the most ridiculously unsafe thing you've seen a parent let his kid do?

Alt-Focus: What's the most ridiculously unsafe thing your parents let you do when you were a kid?

 

These people will now sue and get millions, and the dogs will most likely be put down, fucked up world we live in.

 

I was allowed to build a pipe bomb with my buddy at a party his parents had at their mechanics shop. I'm not really sure how much danger we were in with adults around, but I'm sure 10 year old kids shouldn't be allowed to use the tools and the accelerants available in a commercial mechanic's shop to build explosives while parents sit around, drink, and offer advice. The worst thing that ever happened was a fire that I remember being big, but was probably only 5 feet or so diameter, breaking out. If the internet was available at the time, we may have destroyed some serious things.

 

I didn't think you were allowed to feed animals at the zoo.

 

I saw a guy in Phnom Penh weaving in and out of traffic on a scooter with two infants on his lap - one on each leg.

And apparently there are adults in the United States who force their children to adopt a worldview based on bronze age superstition and attend weekly meetings with organizations that actively protect and promote violent child rapists.

Not sure which is worse.

 

Surely this mom should get an honourary mention.

NSFW.

<a class="postlink" href="http://motherless.com/8C81B81" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">http://motherless.com/8C81B81</a>

 

Yeah, zoos need a deterrent mechanism to prevent people from climbing in to exhibits. I'm thinking maybe some kind of threatening animal that might attack trespassers

 

I saw a mom and a dad in the Dominican Republic wedge an infant between them with all three crammed on a mo-ped.

 

We can't leave these extra chromosomes out.

 

You can tell you're at the Incompetent Parent of the Year Awards, because all of the nominees left their kids in the parking lot with the windows rolled up.

(Don't worry, they gave them a pair of scissors to play with while mommy takes care of something real quick)

 

Personally, I think she got off lightly.

 

I wonder if all those parents who "forgot" their kid in a hot car would have forgotten a carton of eggs or ice cream as well.

It's looking more and more like the Pittsburgh story is a case of gross criminal negligence on the mother's part, and it's a shame that the kid died (from the dogs, not the fall, according to the medical examiner this morning), bystanders were traumatized, a dog was shot, and the zoo will most likely lose revenue after this.

I'm finding it very hard to find an upside to all this, since this story sucks on all levels. But maybe (and I'm not holding my breath) it'll make the multitude of other idiots who do similar things at other zoos, high places, etc., think twice before they do something this stupid again, because just because gross negligence is common doesn't make it any less gross negligence.

Fuck, who am I kidding? In a few months we'll read about a kid being beheaded by a polar bear after mommy wanted him to have a better look.

 

This. This right here is absolute incompetence. The fact that parents are buying into this is fucking astounding.

I posted this on the YouTube thread a long while back, but this definitely fits this thread.

 

Holy shit. What a fucking whackjob. The first demonstration was so ridiculous I thought it was a doll. But the second one, complete with the baby crying through the whole thing, made me feel pretty terrible watching it. I'm sure dislocated limbs while you twirl your baby like a god damn hula hoop at Burning Man is the best thing for its development you stupid gap toothed Russian bitch.

 

I love how she claimed that it was because of her childhood. I had a very shitty, violent childhood and yet have never beat my children ever. They can be stressful, I have had to take a break, but never, ever attacked my children. I hope she gets her ass kicked daily for the next 99 years.

 

Spoilered to avoid derailment.

Spoiler

I always found it weird that people say, "I had a bad childhood" and expect that fact to get them a free pass. Tragic? Definitely. I'm full of pity and sorrow for the things that happen when a kid is raised in a terrible home and never gets the moral compass to know the difference between right and wrong. Thing is, that doesn't excuse anyone from making the decisions that he makes.

When I do something praiseworthy, I'm not told, "Well, you had a really good childhood and loving parents who taught you to work hard and be a good person, so don't expect any reward." We have free will. We have the ability to think about our decisions and make judgments about the consequences of our actions, for good or ill. And with that free will comes responsibility.

When a dog bites people and can't be tamed, we kill it. In most cases, that dog was made that way through abuse and neglect. It definitely isn't the dog's fault that he's the way he is... but fact is, you now have a hazard on your hands, and you have to deal with it. Same thing when a kid is raised in a broken home and robs a convenience store. You can explain all you like how Jimmy never had authority in his life and doesn't have moral development all sorts of other things, but he ROBBED A STORE, and he has to take responsibility to his actions and be held accountable. The idea of not holding people accountable for their actions is far more repugnant to me than sending someone to prison for doing things they saw as "normal" because their parents fucked up.

Focus: Saw a seven-year-old boy smoking in front of Walmart a couple days ago. I'm glad the mom wasn't there, because I'd be in jail right now if she were. Just completely disgusted me.