Incident in Solihull

[YoSofi]

Comments on news reports are saying that five children/young teens have gone through ice into a lake and are in a critical condition.

Really hope that all involved make a full recovery

What a rude and unpleasant post. Did your mamma never teach you 'if you've got nothing good to say.............. etc etc....?'

An eyewitness has said that two of the children were on the lake and went through the ice and three of their friends then went in to help. There are also reports that a dog walker went in to assist, so 6 in total.

Re the number, when the ice broke there will have been total panic, the kids themselves will have been in no state to say who was there and those nearby will have seen a group of kids with possibly other kids nearby. All looking similar, running about etc. You will never get an accurate number in that situation. Plus adults wading in etc, similar colour coats or hats to kids, adults making their own way out and getting rushed home to warm up. Just a really difficult scene to manage. Hopefully they got all the kids out. The police have probably been wading through calls from anxious parents whose kids are round at friends not hearing phones, out with siblings etc.

It's dreadful the obsession with social media.

My neighbours son took his own life four years ago. The "friends" who found him put it on FB before the emergency services got there. I think they called an ambulance/police before they posted, but some members of his family saw it online before the police had even got to her house to break the awful news.

It is very sad. I have an 8yr old, not sure what/if I would say something to her. We live right infront of a tidal river but she knows the risks. It never freezes though.

I’m always a bit suspicious of the ‘ooooh X or Y tragic incident that is nothing to do with me has happened, hope everyone’s okay’

my local rag reports tragic news like this. Completely disingenuous.

Why is it rude and unpleasant? These ‘sympathy’ threads are just excuses to gossip.

Why? What is disingenuous about it?

I'm sure we did too. There seemed to be a lot more public information ads when I was growing up. Don't think there are any in TV now at all.

It's horrendous. Those poor children and their families. Apparently 2 are still missing. It's awful. I hope they all pull through.

This is so sad. Ice is so mesmerising for kids. We went to a frozen lake today. The children were fascinated by it. Even with me right there telling them how dangerous it was and to not go anywhere near the ice, they couldn't resist going as close as possible and putting their foot out to touch it. I have no doubt that if I hadn't been right there they would have ended up putting themselves into a downright dangerous situation (and they are pre teens, so not little)

No they're not. FFS. People are just chatting about a serious news story. Anyone who doesn't like it can leave the thread.

Absolutely heartbreaking. I have a local lake nearby and apparently kids were playing near it today and one fell in. In the past there has been signs but I am not sure if there is now. (we used to live next to it, but moved 4 years ago, so don't go there as often),

There needs to be a much better awareness of large bodies of water, summer and winter seems to bring too many tragedies.

It happens all the time on my local FB page. ‘Just seen the police outside number 10 Church Road, hope everyone is ok’.

They don’t hope everyone is ok, they just want somebody with ‘insider knowledge’ to reply with as many dramatic details as possible. Plus it’s not rocket science, if the police are there then obviously everything isn’t ok - they don’t turn up to announce you’ve won the postcode lottery.

Not to mention the fact it also panics relatives whose loved ones live at the address mentioned.

Oh my days. This is horrendous. Last year we were locked up or made to obey rules of 6 or whatever the coronovirus rules of the time were.

This year our kids have freedom and some of them haven't yet learned the rules of freedom.

This is a horrific tragedy, completely awful to contemplate and could happen to any of our children so please stop judging them and their parents who have let them be kids.

Calling kids idiots/dumb is just chatting about a serious news story is it? 🙄

Which you’ve just added to, if you think that…

Why not just scroll past if it bothers you?

I was also thing about those public information films - they were really hard-hitting and useful - deep water, fire, road safety, fireworks, building sites. They pulled no punches as I recall, and were in the first person - "I am fire . . . "

The water one made your blood run cold - really sinister. I'm sure it kept a lot of children safe.

Quite. How dare a site full of parents who love their children find this concerning and upsetting! 🙄 If anything, more children will be educated by tomorrow morning about the dangers of frozen expanses of water. Absolutely awful for the families involved.

I was around the same age when I fell through ice, fortunately it wasn't very deep. Tbh I should have known better, I was a bright, well-read child - but intelligence does NOT equal common sense.

Some lessons have to be drummed in, several times, with pictures. And then repeated, because sometimes kids are actually idiots (myself included) and just don't understand risk.

It is headline news on every outlet. People understandably feel shocked and saddened, and there are many threads on mumsnet about tragic events that have happened previously.

It’s a parenting forum. Things like this involving children are particularly upsetting and yes people want to talk about it.

I imagine there are many people discussing what’s happened tonight with their loved ones at at home, or with friends, or in the local pub and I am sure every one of them is thinking of those involved and wishing them well. How is it gossip?!

Yeah surely if you live close to a body of water, you don't let your kids out unsupervised until you are fully confident that they are aware of the risks, what to not do, and know what to do in an emergency.

And are mature enough to not do silly things.

I used to live near, it was my regular dog walking spot. My dog fell in once (got too close to a muddy spot and slipped) and I was terrified. She’s got little legs and I didn’t know how well she could swim, but that lake is full of all sorts of stuff and there’s no way to judge how deep it gets. I’ve seen a lot of conflicting info on Facebook but there’s also obviously some stuff they aren’t saying about the possibility of two other people. I hope the four pull through, one of the things I’ve seen a few times is that the four were from the same family.

Totally agree - and not just judging the children, but also their parents.

You have to give your kids a but of freedom and independence at some time. You can't keep them shut indoors every minute of the day. The parents could well have told them "Don't do X or go near Y", but kids are kids and they have a sense of adventure, and sometimes they just don't think.

It's just dreadfully sad.

Errr...... because, what is the point of this thread other than to speculate, gossip and revel in the gory details?

@PurpleButterflyWings people are "just chatting" are they?

Yeah, cause what's the harm in calling the kids and parents names and blaming them for this awful situation they've found themselves in? Just chatting indeed 🙄