Allowing a child to bang on glass walls is annoying but not close to negligence.
Legal viewpoint and comments bc of my background:
This entire post is what POTENTIALLY is the basis of the tragedy. Disclaimer in that none of these are proven facts, and should not be taken as fact until proven. Maybe maybe and maybe.
This may all be based on lack of discipline.
Bang on a toy drum at home. Do you let a toddler bang on the dinner table with a cup? Bang on sidewalk with a rock? Pull a puppy’s tail? If an adult doesn’t do it, or shouldn’t do it, it’s not acceptable social behavior. And it usually starts early on.
Why don’t you use seatbelts? Why do you speed? Do you feel laws don’t apply to you? Or do you have aging issues that need to be addressed?
These people appear to be law abiding, upstanding parents, except that they are related to a grandpa that isn’t law abiding in some areas. And they appear to allow gp to be free wheeling in their lives. This isn’t the first glass pounding by the toddler. Pics at brother’s hockey games have been on msm. Who was at the hockey games and allowed Chloe to get up to the glass enclosure, ostensibly to bang on the glass? Why isn’t she in a seat? Or have an adult standing by her?
GP’s seatbelt (as reported here) non-use record indicates disregard of safety LAWS. Multiple times. Speeding is disregard of LAWS. His reported records are disregard of SAFETY LAWS. If you disregard safety LAWS, what safety PRECAUTIONS do you disregard? Apparently, many. Why let a toddler bang on glass? What if glass not strong enough to withstand toddlers’ banging? Glass breaks. Duh. If safety glass, it breaks into pebbles. Old glass breaks into sharp shards. What are you thinking????? Oh! I’m sorry, you’re NOT thinking safety! Are you? Perhaps there is some physical brain issue? Undiagnosed?
What if every toddler in the hockey stadium was at the glass enclosure and pounding on it????? I’m pretty sure there were other toddlers attending the hockey game. There were no other toddlers pictured standing by Chloe at the glass enclosure.
If the parents had tried repeatedly to stop toddler’s glass banging, and told gp to stop, too, I’d be inclined to be sympathetic. Toddlers can be a handful.
Don’t misunderstand me. I’m mortified that Chloe died in the manner she died. Sick to my insides. And I’m SO sorry for the family. I can’t think of anything worse except kidnapping, sexual assault of a toddler.
But, don’t try to pass the buck off on another party. Person. Entity. Take responsibility for your actions. Or inactions. Until we ALL take responsibility for what we do, nothing will change.
IMO, parents AND grandpa are all responsible. This wasn’t the first time she was allowed to pound on glass. So what that she liked to pound on glass. Little ones like to do all kinds of things. They’re growing up. Learning. Experiencing the world. Every age learns by listening, watching, experiencing. Adults set limits. Based on age, maturity, intelligence of the child. Chloe probably slipped out of his grasp. For that, I’m so sorry. But she never should have been lifted up, past the railing to be close to the window for any reason, let alone to allow her to bang on it. Railing is a safety precaution that he disregarded. The disregarded safety precaution was just one more in gp’s long record. Unfortunately, this time, he wasn’t by himself without a seatbelt or speeding.