To think letting your child walk along a railing next to a river is a really bad idea

[Plateofcrumbs]

Totally got my judgeypants on...

Walking round town, I saw a parent help their DS (about 6) climb up onto a high (above waist level) flat-topped railing and held their hand as their DS tip-toed along the top. On the other side of the railing was a drop of about 3m into a river (shallow and slow moving, rocky outcrops).

My heart was in my mouth until the child jumped down. Although the parent was holding the child's hand throughout, I honestly don't think they would have been able to stop them falling if they had slipped.

Was this crazily dangerous or do I just need to get a grip and steel myself for life when my own DS is old enough for climbing and adventure?

sorry but I don't think it's dangerous

Sounds bloody dangerous to me!

Ynbu. Children can still drown in shallow water. Or he/she could have banged their head if they'd have fallen.

Some people are just idiots! Sounds dangerous to me. There was a family where I live, who took their little boy to the seafront in a storm and let him sit on the wall where the waves crash over. Big wave took him. He's never been found. Stupid! YANBU.

Oh that's awful coldwhite

Wonder if it's the same one that happened near me ColdWhite, a little boy aged 3 was swept off the seafront path by a wave and drowned. Just awful.

Oh my goodness Cold. That's so tragic. Im not going to call his parents they undoubtedly feel bad greif striken and guilty enough but I can't help but wonder what the hell where they thinking. You don't take chances with little ones especially around water.

YABU. I'm sure the child's parent was perfectly capable of assessing the risk themselves.

What business is it of yours?

How can you be sure merguez ?

As demonstrated by the stories above, some people are stupid

I was waiting for the what business is it of yours chestnut to come out. Surprised it took as long as it did to be honest, so if you see a child in danger you just ignore it as ' its none of your business.
When it comes to children's safety. It's everyones business. I can't stand ignorance.

Merguez you'd think so wouldn't you? However direct observation would tend to indicate that there are lots of parents/grandparents who are also idiots and let their kids do all manner of unreasonably dangerous things.

Some people's survival astoundes me.

I probably would not do that, and I'm not a scaredy cat. Sounds like a bad idea to me. I wouldn't have the boobs to say anything though.

I think it's an unnecessary risk and not teaching the child to respect being around water.

The few idiots that have still walked their dogs along waterfronts, despite the weather warnings are in the same category, not as stupid as some of the parents, obviously.

No business of mine really merguez, it just gave me a scare watching it.

I don't think if the child had missed his footing the parent would have necessarily been able to pull him back.

Without knowing the parent and child couldn't say. Dd always had very good balance and was very sure footed, added together I must have walked miles upon miles holding her hand while she balanced on stuff. In particular a curved wall she was obsessed with as a toddler that 90% of the time was slippy with moss etc and as high as my rib cage. And I have both the strength and reflexes to catch a child if they slipped, even at that height. Judging age is often a mistake too- dd has always looked older, some of her friends have always been thought younger.
My only concern would be as a pp mentioned teaching a casual attitude to the risk of water.

Hmm, dunno. As a primary school child, I spent a lot of time playing outside. I had very good balance and wouldn't do anything I considered risky.

I used to walk along the outside of the railings of a raised path, (holding on). I never fell and wouldn't do it if it was slippy.

Isn't it just an early form of parkour?

My relatives did this when I was a child, we lived by the sea (like 10 mins walk to the beach). My uncle thought it would be a good idea to help me climb the harbour perimeter wall, at 4 years old (it's a very old wall designed so that you can sit on the top and fish, with steps), and then hold my hand as I walked along it. Harbour wall is about 5ft high or so and has a 20ft drop into the sea at the other side.

The community have now fenced the wall off , as it's crumbling rapidly and really not useful for anything, but looking back I'm shocked my uncle was happy to do this - I'd not have survived if I'd tripped up.

I spent most of my childhood climbing as high as I could up trees raisin - I thought of myself as pretty sensible but liked to push myself to the point it got scary.

What would the consequences have been if you'd fallen from the railings?

I would have slipped 2/3 feet to the road. So, not clever on the face of it, but I knew what I was capable of, I suppose.

What is the point of the OP's post though? It's not going to make any difference.

Used to walk along the tops of walls as a kid. So did my dc. It's part of how we learn to judge risks. Anyone can find an example of when it goes wrong if you look hard enough.

The tops of walls are one thing Merguez the tops of walls by a river in full winter spate is quite another.