Moral Dilemma
We've been talking in my online course about moral dilemmas. Yesterday on the playground I witnessed something that has been bothering me a lot. I'm still wondering if I should have stepped in or not.
To set the scene: It's me and my three, Will in the stroller, Josiah in the sandbox, Annika in the climby igloo (what is the technical name of those things?). I am talking to my friend Mary while her two little girls play with Josiah and Annika. One of Josiah's friends Zachary is outside on the igloo and there's another little boy, Teagan, playing there too. Teagan's mother is sitting on a bench a little ways away and is reading a book. Normal day on the playground.
Until...
I look up just in time to see Zachary throwing a sand toy (specifically, our plastic toy tractor/digger) at Teagan. He missed. Teagan starts screaming like he's been branded.
(Let me insert here that I don't condone throwing things at other children and that yes, my children, especially my daughter, enjoy screaming like they have been branded).
My first thought is "Oh, thank GOD it wasn't Annika throwing it!".
Zachary, who is six, is saying "He hit me FIRST!!" and Teagan is still screaming about how Zachary hit him with the digger. His mother comes running and LAYS into Zachary. I have never seen a fellow parent behave like this. She was screaming at Zachary.
"Where's your mother? Where do you live? Who do you THINK you are little boy? Why would you do that to my kid? (at this point, Zachary is crying and starts running) You better run, little boy! You'd better run faster! Don't you EVER come back to this park again, do you hear me? NEVER!!!!"
There was other stuff in there too, that's just what I remember. Woah. And she chased him while she was screaming at him too. Hey, I'm all for the mama bear--we have to protect our kids, but she didn't even stop to ask either of these boys what actually happened. The fact of the matter is, Teagan wasn't actually hit. Another fact of the matter is that the park is PUBLIC lady...you can't throw people out of it.
Unbelievably, she continued to let Teagan play and settled back in with our book even though Mary and I were standing there trying to pick up our jaws.
Awhile later, our doorbell rang and there was Zachary, looking to play with Josiah. He seems like a decent little boy. I really feel that I should have stepped in to defend him. I think we were just so shocked. And truthfully, I was a little scared that she'd start screaming at me.
I have been thinking about it all day. When Zachary came over, I knelt down and I told him "Zachary, what that lady said to you today was wrong. Grownups shouldn't behave like that. You know it's wrong to throw toys, but she shouldn't have done that to you. I hope you feel like you can go on the playground".
It just doesn't feel good enough.
To set the scene: It's me and my three, Will in the stroller, Josiah in the sandbox, Annika in the climby igloo (what is the technical name of those things?). I am talking to my friend Mary while her two little girls play with Josiah and Annika. One of Josiah's friends Zachary is outside on the igloo and there's another little boy, Teagan, playing there too. Teagan's mother is sitting on a bench a little ways away and is reading a book. Normal day on the playground.
Until...
I look up just in time to see Zachary throwing a sand toy (specifically, our plastic toy tractor/digger) at Teagan. He missed. Teagan starts screaming like he's been branded.
(Let me insert here that I don't condone throwing things at other children and that yes, my children, especially my daughter, enjoy screaming like they have been branded).
My first thought is "Oh, thank GOD it wasn't Annika throwing it!".
Zachary, who is six, is saying "He hit me FIRST!!" and Teagan is still screaming about how Zachary hit him with the digger. His mother comes running and LAYS into Zachary. I have never seen a fellow parent behave like this. She was screaming at Zachary.
"Where's your mother? Where do you live? Who do you THINK you are little boy? Why would you do that to my kid? (at this point, Zachary is crying and starts running) You better run, little boy! You'd better run faster! Don't you EVER come back to this park again, do you hear me? NEVER!!!!"
There was other stuff in there too, that's just what I remember. Woah. And she chased him while she was screaming at him too. Hey, I'm all for the mama bear--we have to protect our kids, but she didn't even stop to ask either of these boys what actually happened. The fact of the matter is, Teagan wasn't actually hit. Another fact of the matter is that the park is PUBLIC lady...you can't throw people out of it.
Unbelievably, she continued to let Teagan play and settled back in with our book even though Mary and I were standing there trying to pick up our jaws.
Awhile later, our doorbell rang and there was Zachary, looking to play with Josiah. He seems like a decent little boy. I really feel that I should have stepped in to defend him. I think we were just so shocked. And truthfully, I was a little scared that she'd start screaming at me.
I have been thinking about it all day. When Zachary came over, I knelt down and I told him "Zachary, what that lady said to you today was wrong. Grownups shouldn't behave like that. You know it's wrong to throw toys, but she shouldn't have done that to you. I hope you feel like you can go on the playground".
It just doesn't feel good enough.
