A mother in Cincinnati pulled her 4-year-old boy from preschool after he was given a small beer stein as part of a "Countries Around the World" lesson.
Now, this post is not about the merits of her argument. It's not about coddling . It's not about whether or not she went too far. It's not about whether or not the best way to describe German culture is by showing beer. This post is about what happened once her story made the Cincinnati Enquirer.
The mother's feeling and intuition about what was best for her son meant she could not keep him in school anymore, especially after a loud argument with the principal. She's not an evil person. Some may consider her over-protective, but when you look at the list of problems facing society, over-protection is not really a big deal, is it? An over-protected kid may grow up with some insecurities that he may have to overcome, but that's pretty much where it ends. This is not an abused kid and not a neglected one. What we have here is a good mother who made a choice many wouldn't have made. The End.
But then came the comments.
(Click to Enlarge, or Read Below) |
I am absolutely amazed that anyone could make such a big deal out of such a trivial matter! Only in America!
"I cannot be the only one who thinks this is wrong." Yes, Elyse, you can.
Where is this Child's Helmet? He is Sitting on his Mothers lap, He could fall off and injure Himself, Also He needs goggles over his eyes for protection since his Mother is wearing Glasses with sharp corners that may harm Him accidentally. Or maybe Mom could just start filling up that Beer Stein and Relax a Little.
She'd never use goggles...they might be beer goggles ;-)
Somebody had on beer goggles - only way she'd have gotten pregnant!
Its the parent's that protect their kids from EVERYTHING and think everything is SO wrong like this lady that wind up having the BAD kids when they are older because they were so dang sheltered all their lives, they finally get old enough and get some freedom and TOTALLY overdo it!!
Waa waa waaaaa. Don't people have more important things to complain about? When I was in grade school, we went on a field trip to the Hudepohl brewery, and nobody raised a peep about that.And there are many more, all pretty much saying the same thing. Later, when one person dares to suggest the mother's sensitivities should have been addressed, whether or not they were justified, he immediately gets this response (and a dozen similar ones):
WOW...you all walk amongst us...scary...Then humanity got even worse, when the story reached the anonymous hive-mind of Reddit. There, submitted in the Parenting section, it was titled, "Parents: Don't be like this. This insufferable idiot makes us all look bad."
After looking at hundreds of comments on Reddit, where people call the mother "white trash" and make fun of her and her kid's names, I think it's safe to say the mother is not the one making parents look bad.
The kid may or may not grow up with the burden of being over-protected, but that's only a problem because these name callers and grown-up bullies, to borrow a phrase, "walk amongst us."