Stupid People Who Don't Protect Kids

[a99az]

What would you think of a mother or father who would let there ten month old child chew on a plastic coke bottle lid or sit on a kitchen work top while they prepare food. I have a couple staying with us who when told that it is very dangerous, and that the child could choke to death, do nothing but smile and say it's all right, they also have a three year old.

We also have a child of two so I keep things like medicine and cleaning things out of reach, and small things don't get left about.

But this couple leaves medicine out, sewing needles and scissors for them to get hold of, I worry that my child will fall victim to there stupidity.

I might add these people are European and not from a third world country.

What would you do?

[endure]

Start threads that have at least something to do with Thailand?

[JimmyTheMook]

They sound like total idiots and unfortunately I see this behaivor with Thai people all the time , if these folks are westerner's hopefully you can talk some sense into them.

During Songkran I saw little kids wandering around the streets with the all the drunks driving around in their Isaan Cadillac's.

It breaks my heart seeing babies on motorcycles and that is just a small sign of the recklessness afforded to children here in Thailand

[blackink]

I don't quite understand what you really want to tell ;

(1)Do you want to protect your kids from them, or

(2)Do you want to teach this European couple

how to protect their kids from any accidents?

If (1), why don't you stay away from them? Simple like that!!!

If (2), mind your own business. There are too many people

on earth who don't agree with your opinions.

What would you think of a mother or father who would let there ten month old child chew on a plastic coke bottle lid or sit on a kitchen work top while they prepare food. I have a couple staying with us who when told that it is very dangerous, and that the child could choke to death, do nothing but smile and say it's all right, they also have a three year old.

We also have a child of two so I keep things like medicine and cleaning things out of reach, and small things don't get left about.

But this couple leaves medicine out, sewing needles and scissors for them to get hold of, I worry that my child will fall victim to there stupidity.

I might add these people are European and not from a third world country.

What would you do?

[joskydive]

What would you think of a mother or father who would let there ten month old child chew on a plastic coke bottle lid or sit on a kitchen work top while they prepare food. I have a couple staying with us who when told that it is very dangerous, and that the child could choke to death, do nothing but smile and say it's all right, they also have a three year old.

We also have a child of two so I keep things like medicine and cleaning things out of reach, and small things don't get left about.

But this couple leaves medicine out, sewing needles and scissors for them to get hold of, I worry that my child will fall victim to there stupidity.

I might add these people are European and not from a third world country.

What would you do?

Ask them to stay elsewhere if you can't cope with their lifestyle. They are obviously not going to change their ways to suit yours.

[bkkjames]

What would you think of a mother or father who would let there ten month old child chew on a plastic coke bottle lid or sit on a kitchen work top while they prepare food. I have a couple staying with us who when told that it is very dangerous, and that the child could choke to death, do nothing but smile and say it's all right, they also have a three year old.

We also have a child of two so I keep things like medicine and cleaning things out of reach, and small things don't get left about.

But this couple leaves medicine out, sewing needles and scissors for them to get hold of, I worry that my child will fall victim to there stupidity.

I might add these people are European and not from a third world country.

What would you do?

let natural selection take its course. Not sure what 3rd world country has to do with stupid parents or are you implying because they are from Europe and not here, that somehow they should know better?

[Shazza]

People at the other extreme annoy me more... those who are always worried about their kids - mmm like I was with my first... not so with numbers two and three!

I can't cope with my friends who don't have their little ones in car seats in the car.... but I've never had a toddler here in Thailand and I don't know how I would manage it... so try not to judge...

[Head Snake]

Thai Children are used to living on the edge. They learn at a young age that they must only count on themselves to save themselves. They are crafty clever kids who grow up into adults with several scars about the body. Its living, baby. Its keeping it real.

I have entertained and babysat kids many times. Parenting is a thankless round the clock job. Being a critic seems to be a much easier job. I've come to respect, give credit, and also give them the benefit of the doubt.

But, it is so much more peaceful once the kids leave and that extra worry isn't necessary.

I remember telling this woman to make sure non of the kids ran out into the street (Sukhumvit ) on Songkran. Sure enough, the world's best kid went running into lane 1 of sukhumvit. oh man!!! I looked before I leapt into the lane so cars could see better but I wanted to strangle the woman that was supposed to be watching the little one.

[Chaimai]

Start threads that have at least something to do with Thailand?

No problem ! Jimmy the Mook can still take the opportunity to highlight the recklessness of Thais but is OK because if they are westerners they can be taught how to change.

Cue Maigo6 with the stats for infant mortality in Falangland

[phetaroi]

As with most things, the question is -- where is the balance between over-protection and carelessness.

I'm a former school principal. One day a Thai friend of mine who works for the Education Ministry and I were down around Pratunam and we say three Thai children in their school uniforms. I asked if we could talk to them, and my friend said he would translate. The funny part was when I asked what grade they were in. The little boy said whatever would be the equivalent of first grade, but the little girl said he was a liar, that they were in whatever the equivalent of kindergarten is. I also asked them where they lived and they said Thonburi. I couldn't believe that was true (being such a distance and they were alone), so I asked them to tell me how they got home. They said they took a public bus to the river, crossed in a ferry, got another bus to some particular klong, and then got on a klong boat to get to their neighborhood.

Then there was the time I was out at Yellowstone National Park and there were these little (about 5 years old) Asian kids wandering around the paths at the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone with no apparent adult supervision. Steep drop-offs of hundreds of feet with no guardrails.

Back at work here in the States, a parent went nuts on me explaining how her 13 year-old daughter would need to be afforded school bus transportation because she couldn't be expected to walk on the dangerous sidewalk around our own parking lot (and keep in mind, our school was in a remarkably safe and rather rich community).

In all three of these cases, I think the parents were nuts! Somewhere in the middle is the ideal.

[kevc]

During Songkran I saw little kids wandering around the streets with the all the drunks driving around in their Isaan Cadillac's.

It breaks my heart seeing babies on motorcycles and that is just a small sign of the recklessness afforded to children here in Thailand

I recently saw a farang guy on Sukhumvit riding a motorbike with one hand and holding a one year old baby in the other.