Agree to Disagree : Gorilladrama

I know. It is a little late to be jumping into the Gorilla debate as It happened more than 2 weeks ago.

Initially, I wasn’t going to give my input, but then, I saw the video.

There are two issues at hand here.

The first issue lies in the fact that the gorilla was killed. Animal Rights Activists were quick to show outrage and even condemned the zoo, stating it was a “senseless killing of a member of an endangered species.” Some went as far as saying tranquilizers would have been sufficiently effective to subdue the massive beast. Being a mother, I know if I saw my child dragged in water by a 400 pound monster who can crush a skull with one hand, I would be extremely thankful to the authorities for deciding to use deadly force rather than risk my child’s life.

That brings me to the second issue: parenting.

I am not one to judge. I know it’s hard, nearly impossible really, to know where your kids are and what they are doing 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, especially if you have more than one. How many of us can honestly say they have, in the past, lost track of their child for a couple of minutes somewhere? Was that neglect? Nothing happened to the child, you’ll say, but were you not just plain lucky?

The child’s mother was quoted: “He was right here! I took a pic and his hand was in my back pocket and then gone!” Was THAT neglect? Many are calling for the parents to be charged, if not criminally, at least punished financially. Haven’t they gone through enough already?

I’m a nervous parent. I don’t let my kids sleep over at their friends’ houses if I don’t know them. I don’t allow my kids roam around the streets of Cornwall at night. I don’t even let them go to the playground by themselves. I monitor their facebook accounts, I make sure they watch appropriate programming (most of the time) and I try to make sure they know right from wrong. Some would say I’m over protective, especially other parents who are strong advocates of freedom parenting and don’t seem to mind if their pre-teens are out gallivanting late at night. Not me. Nah huh. I simply don’t understand it. Maybe I’m just a control freak. My kids don’t like it, but I don’t care. My job is not to be their friend.

Regardless, I’m not a perfect parent. By far. I remember when my son, who is now 15, was first born, I drove to the bank to take care of some deposits and totally forgot him in the car. I felt like such an unfit mother! It was fall time and nothing happened to him, thank God! But was THAT neglect?

The one thing we have to remember is that we’re all human and that there is a major difference between a one time honest mistake and neglect. There is enough of the latter going on without having to make a big deal of the former.

As a housewife, I feel that if the kids are still alive when my husband gets home from work, then hey, I’ve done my job. -Roseanne Barr

To watch the video, go to http://www.cnn.com/videos/us/2016/05/31/boy-falls-
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