To think this is a form of child abuse????

[MissionItsPossible]

www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/mum-allows-snake-bite-baby-10575402

In order to 'teach her a lesson' a mother from the US holds a snake near her young baby and as she goes to grab it it bites her.

She claims as she knew the snake wouldn't pierce the child's skin this was somehow okay?

Well duh... as the woman is facing charges it clearly is abuse.

It's an unusual way of going about things but there are lots of snakes in Florida, the sort that can kill you. If she and her other child have bitten before I can see why she thought it would make sense, I guess. I wouldn't do it myself but I can see where she was going with it.

Dd pulled the cat's tail when she was a toddler and summarily dealt with by said cat. I sort of shrugged at dd. Didn't tell off the cat.

Of course it's abuse, a one year old will have no concept of being 'taught a lesson' the fact she thinks it was funny is fucking sick too. Spiteful cow.

I remember when mine were young we showed them what hot was by holding their hand near a cup of tea we were drinking. We did it while gently telling them about hot things - and how not to touch them. World of difference here I think. Not once in the video did we hear the mother telling her little one anything.

On a different note - I think the offer of children to adopt is great. I shall email immediately and order myself some new kids.

It's a good lesson and obviously important if you live somewhere with dangerous wildlife, but I think the child is probably a bit young!
I wouldn't go as far as calling it abuse, just misguided.

Stupid woman. A one year old relies on it's mother to keep it safe. I suppose it wouldn't be so bad if it was an older child, but then you would tell an older child not to touch the snake, so there would be no need to do this anyway.

Are you actually expecting any "YABU" s on this one?

YANBU.

But it doesn't surprise me. I've read of people who've taught their toddlers not to bite by biting them, or not to hit by hitting them back.

Poor child. You have to be a special sort of moron to think about holding a snake near a one year old knowing full well what it could do.

Serf

I wouldn't go as far as calling it abuse, just misguided.

If she and her other child have bitten before I can see why she thought it would make sense, I guess. I wouldn't do it myself but I can see where she was going with it.

So, perhaps yes.

There's always one I suppose

You have to consider that a poisonous/bigger snake could quite easily kill a small child, so instilling fear of snakes in a child is not a bad idea if you live around them.
And at the age when a toddler might potter about picking up things they fancy, they might not fully understand/remember being told, it has to be a memorable lesson!

I think it's something we in the UK can't really understand, but I lived in the middle east as a child and I remember my parents telling us horror stories about children who'd been stung by scorpions. We knew more than one person that'd happened to, and 20 years later I still check inside my shoes before I put them on.
Was it nice? No. Might it have saved me from being stung by a scorpion? Yes quite possibly.

Although all that said, the laughing at the child is a bit disturbing.