General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: PARENTS are responsible for the safety of their children. [View all]Nay
(12,051 posts)by finding a way into a zoo enclosure (such as the naked guy jumping into the lion pit).
However, children are another matter, for some very good reasons:
1. They have not developed good judgement and are impulsive, curious, and obsessive by nature, and
often do not have a concept of danger at all -- cannot be required to understand potentially harmful
situations and avoid them
2. They are physically small, and enclosures must take that into account
3. Children are slippery little devils and can disappear in seconds, esp in crowds, no
matter how attentive a parent is
4. Children are a fixture at zoos for obvious reasons, so any safety measures MUST address
the characteristics of children first, especially very young children like this boy
I agree that parents, in general, will assume that their children, if lost in a zoo, cannot easily wander into a dangerous animal enclosure. I don't think this is weird of them to assume this. I never assumed a damned thing when my son or grandson was little, but I was a truly watchful and paranoid parent. But guess what? My son STILL got away from me once or twice. It is MUCH worse now to keep track of your kids in any public place because the crowds are so much bigger than when I was a parent 40 years ago.