To think a 4 year old should know not to push over a giant Lego statue

[sandrabedminster]

4 year old pushes over Lego statue.

That's just a badly behaved child right? Mine at 4 knew not to do things like this because I didn't let then run wild. I don't think the age is any excuse what so ever.

Made you laugh? Lots of empathy shown there for the artist

Mine would know she shouldn't, but keeping fingers off interesting things that look like toys is not her strong point. They don't have perfect impulse control at that age. Otoh I know that so I'd have dinned it into her to stay the right side of the rope, and probably had hold of her too.

I think the parents ought to have had a bit more control over the child. He's 4 so not a little toddler.

Also it was behind a bloody barrier, so even if he 'just wanted to touch the lego' the parents should have stopped him and explained you don't go beyond the barrier before it happened. I don't understand why people think it's ok for him to break rules because he's 'only 4' if you start off letting them do as they please they'll never respect boundaries.

The parents filming their kids destroying the glass sculpture, is shocking though. The parents should have been charged for criminal damage.

Children do unsensible things sometimes. That's why they're not allowed to be judges.

Its also why they need to be closely supervised round delicate sculptures. Still, at least the parents have had the decency to be apologetic, and no endangered animals died this time.

The glass sculpture video is appalling. Some people are tossers. Can't comment on the Lego because we don't know if it's something that happened in the blink of an eye.

lol. i laughed when i heard this this morning. i think a child is going to want to play with lego. probably so excited to see so much of it id imagine! but the parents shouldve been keeping more of an eye.. dont ya think? i dont blame the 4 year old. x

My 3 year old would totally do this given half a chance. He just has an urge to knock stuff over.
He knows it's wrong but he's 3 so he does stuff anyway.

I doubt he's the only one.

Words fail me. If a child can push over a Lego statue, then it is not very secure. We are talking about a 4 year old young child fgs, not a 14 year old. I expect your the perfect parent with perfect kids.

If it is worth that much, it should be behind glass just for viewing.

This story actually made me laugh when i read it on the BBC website

Yes, im sure the artist found it hilarious

I have an 8yr old with ADHD who can be very impulsive and unpredictable. She could easily do something like this (and is strong enough to break free from my grip). It's easy to see how a determined 4yr old could do this.

As PPs have said, the sculpture was too top heavy, the base was too small and surely the bricks could have been glued with epoxy resin or similar?

Making it 100% Lego would make the top even heavier.

There are so many comments here blaming the artist for how the sculpture was made. It was glued, but still will not survive being pushed over. It was part of an exhibition, so I don't know if the artist had any say at all over how it was displayed. It is usually the curator who decides this, not the artist.

I feel very sorry for the artist, he must be heartbroken. He says in an interview he does not blame the child because of the child's age. But have a bit of empathy for the artist.

I see it all the time, children that have never heard the word "no"

YABU just for making smug and silly comments like this. You have no idea what the circumstances are when you see a child being, in your view, badly behaved, and no child is perfect all the time.

He's FOUR. four year olds are hardly known for their ability to think rationally are they?!

Ds is notoriously impetuous and impulsive. He has to see what happens with cause and effect and at times that overrides everything else, no matter how much we say no. He never uses things as they're supposed to be used and is extremely inventive, and sometimes rough, in his play. But no, not even he would have done this. Apart from anything else, we've learned to watch him like a hawk in situations like this and he does actually respond well on the whole to explanation, you just need to get him to view it from an empathetic perspective: "Ds, you know how long it takes you to build a small lego figure and how upset you get if it gets broken by someone else? Well that's why it's behind the rope, to stop it getting broken because someone has taken hours and hours to build that. No touching allowed." I'm not sure I'd say the 4yo was naughty, but the parents should have been watching him more closely and been able to prevent it. Some kids are ridiculously impulsive and curious, but that doesn't equate to 'naughty'.

Again let's all pile in and blame the parents (or rather let's just blame the mother). None of us know exactly what happened but the parents have had the decently to offer to pay for the damage but the artist has refused because according to the artist at least, it was an accident.

AIBU to think that an adult should know that all 4 years olds are not little clones of each other?

Sorry, but I laughed too. The "artist" isn't a planner, is he? Puts a delicate statue that easily breaks in front of a excited kids (who have probably just consumed some sugar) and is heartbroken when it gets knocked over?

that's almost as funny as the poster claiming we have no to right to judge.

I once witnessed some parents stand by as their children kicked an absolutely lovely and painstakingly built snowman to smithereens. Obviously not in quite the same league but it really upset me, especially as it was early in the day so could potentially have brought smiles to lots of faces.

I didn't build it btw.

The idea of taking my children to a museum with a Lego exhibit makes me shudder. I have lovely, polite, well-behaved children, but Lego seems to be irresistible to them and I would be terrified that one (or all) of them would try to touch it. They know that stuff in museums to usually not to be touched, but seeing a giant toy would just bypass that in their brains.

I can keep a firm hold on the two little ones, but I'm always afraid of being accused of hurting them if someone sees me holding on to them tightly.

I feel so sorry for the parents. That sinking feeling when you know that your child has done something awful and expensive is hideous.

My ds might have. But having had him for four years at the point, I knew it was possibility and so stay next to him the entire time.

Did your children grow up to be acute angles?

I wouldn't normally post something like that but you posted this thread to be inflammatory didn't you?

Zhao (the artist) declined compensation as he insisted the child had not meant to break the figurine.

AIBU to think a grown woman should know the difference between an angle and an angel