I do not write much about things not related to autism but I thought I had to write about this subject because it is something that really bothers me. I am going to write about the Gorilla and the child that got into the habitat and the animal had to be put down. I am not going to say the child fell in because from all accounts he tried to get in. This incident has many sides to it and is in all accounts a very gray area, for which a valid point can be made from different views on the subject. As is usual with me you will find out quickly what side I am on but I am going to try to hit this from any angle possible. If people want to disagree with me they can certainly do so I am a big boy I can handle it.
I am going to start off by saying that there has been no evidence saying the child is autistic or disabled in any way so please let us not speculate here because that just gets everyone into trouble. So if the child was not disabled does that make any difference in how mom did or did not respond to the situation? On the base of what happened in the situation it may not matter either way, but I think the outcome would still most likely have been the same regardless. Just the fact that there was a young child that got away from one of his parents makes the difference here, but it is not the whole story. Now let’s go under the assumption the child was NT, and if that is the case should anyone be able to question the parent’s lack of parenting skills? I think the answer to that is yes, but I still believe this is a grey area, and I will explain what I mean.
Before everyone goes crazy I have the right to think the way I do and people have the right to criticize or not criticize, and these are the rights we have as citizens of our country. Whether everyone believes in whatever side of an argument you are on is another story but everyone has the right to do it. Just as people believe that no one should criticize a parent for a choice they make regarding their parenting skills thus should no one criticize the person questioning that parent? Look people you can’t have your cake and eat it to, rights work in both directions. What my real issue here is why as a country or a society we all get into arguments and petty squabbles about issues that are ultimately not huge issues in terms of society’s problems. In my never so humble opinion we should all spend more time and more of our energy on important issues rather than trolling the internet just waiting for someone to make a mistake so we can jump on them. Case in point I expect that people are going to have issue with what I am about to say, so have at it.
Now that my rant is done with, back to the story at hand and whether or not the mom in this case should be questioned on her parenting skills. In general when people go to a place like the zoo they should expect to have some kind of expectation that the place is safe for people of all ages to go, however there is a limit to what you can legally expect a business like that to be responsible for. So if you take your children to the zoo and you get in the gate and say to them go run off and have fun is the zoo then responsible if your child gets hurt, the answer should be no. The reason that no is the answer is because the zoo also has a right to expect that visitors are going to use sound judgment when they go there and not put themselves into a position where someone could get hurt. Now do you see where I am going with this now, if you don’t I will explain further. I am not saying that mom just let her children run loose if that is what you are thinking I am saying that maybe, just maybe mom really knows her children and what they do and do not do, and maybe she should have thought of that at least a little before going to the zoo.
Ok so now you are thinking there he goes blaming mom, and in a sense you are correct I am but let me elaborate. If you know going in you have a runner and you have a child that is hard to control would you as a responsible parent take precautions to ensure your child’s safety. Now if ensuring your child’s safety is just saying little bobby we are going to behave in the zoo and not run around and not try to touch animals right. Come on now you are trying to negotiate with a 4 year old here you know that isn’t going to work. Let’s be honest I am making sense here right. Now on the flip side any parent can be hit off guard with young children so accidents happen and children do some not so intelligent things so things happen without notice sometimes. With that being said I believe I have read that this child announced to mom more than once that he wanted to get into the enclosure with the animals, and moms reaction was no you can’t, no you won’t. Again are we trusting a 4 year old to use his better judgment here and are we just going about our business like nothing could possible go wrong? There are also reports that mom just did not turn around to attend to something else she was taking pictures at the time the child got into the enclosure. If this is in fact true do those two situations combined raise some concerns with you, if they don’t you need to rethink this.
I have two ASD children as most of you know and I am at my wits end sometimes and even I am prone to mistakes, but this is one I don’t think I would have made. I am not asking anyone to be me and I am not saying I don’t make mistakes but I mitigate my mistakes by being prepared and planning ahead so I am not in situations like this. Read my previous posts where I have been brutally honest about myself and my family and read what I have given up to be where I and my family is now. I am not the pot calling the kettle black here I am being honest and saying that parents out there have lost something in the now generation and that loss is respect and responsibility. Many parents now actually believe that society is at fault for everything and they should not have to take responsibility for anything, and it is really sad.
Now to get to what the zoo ended out doing in response to what happened and the fact that they put the animal down. I think they might the right call even if you believe that the gorilla was not trying to hurt the child. The gorilla was not likely to just give the child up so your choices are kill it or tranquilize it and there are very important reasons on why they chose kill. Number one the animal is 400lbs and what if you knocked it out and it fell on top of the child in the water, yup you guessed it the child would drown, and likely the animal as well. Number two if you try to knock it out and it gets agitated it is going to swing that child around like a doll and likely kill him even if it wasn’t trying to. The zoo made the right call and I don’t think there should be much of an argument there. The Zoo was in a bad situation and they did what they thought was best for the human in the story.
The next question becomes whether or not there should be zoos in the first place and that is a discussion that can get complicated. There are reasons like conservation, education and entertainment involved so that is not an easy question to answer and I have dragged this out long enough already to answer it. The other question is, are the enclosures safe enough and can you make them better. I am guessing since this has not happened before that they are relatively safe but who is to know that. Maybe it was an old enclosure and something broke that wasn’t repaired correctly, that is certainly possible. I am guessing if that was the case we would have hear that already, and maybe we will soon find out. For all the conspiracy theorists out there maybe the zoo knew there was an issue with the enclosure and refused to fix it on purpose. I do not believe that to be true but hey stranger things have happened. Recent stories have confirmed however that the zoo has upgraded the enclosure but that still does not prove it was subpar to begin with they are just being reactive now.
The last unanswered question is whether or not the family is going to sue the zoo or not. I would hope they don’t, but if they do there is nothing to stop them, well nothing other than them thinking they have been shamed by the public and that they may have contributed to the accident. In the end the child is safe and he will ultimately learn from the experience and hopefully not do anything like this again. Ok stop what you are thinking I am not blaming the child I am just saying this experience may be something her remembers later on in life. If I were the parent I would think long and hard about what happened and I would try to learn from it as well. There is no need for guilt or any bad feelings, but a sense of comfort knowing things might have been far worse but for the grace of God they were not. I am not 100% confident a lawsuit is not coming because let’s face it everyone is sue happy these days. I think lawsuits have become a new revenue source for people but that is a story for another day. I am not happy an endangered animal had to die because of a bad situation but I can live with it knowing a child is now safe and sound.
dualspectrumdad 