Category: Randomness

Are Child Deaths Involving Wild Animals Accidents or Plain Ole Neglect?

Besides all of the other egregious news headlines of terrorists attacks, racial and social divide and just plain ole day to day crime, two stories in particular involving children being attacked (and in one case killed) by wild animals have gained international attention and raised serious dialogue about child neglect and whether or not parents should be held responsible when “accidents” happen.

Back in May 2016, a 3 yr. old Cincinnati boy wandered off from his mother and accidently fell into a gorilla exhibit at the city’s Brookfield Zoo. The terrifying incident was captured on video as terrified onlookers, including the boy’s parents and zoo officials, frantically grappled on how to rescue the small child from the grips of the massive 17 year old mammal before it attacked. In the end, the zoo officials decided to shoot and kill the 450 lb. gorilla rather further risk the child’s life. Animal lovers and activists cried foul and held vigils in the name of the slain gorilla, Harambe. Shortly after, Cincinnati police began investigating the parents for child neglect. In the end, officials decided not to prosecute the family, setting off a storm of controversy with many blaming the boy’s mother for failing to “control her child.”

Fast-forward to mid June 2016, a 2 yr. old Nebraska boy was vacationing with his family at Walt Disney in Orlando, Florida. The family was attending movie night outdoors at the Grand Floridian resort when the boy waded into about a foot of water in the Seven Seas Lagoon. Witnesses, including the boy’s horrified parents, tried to save him as a gator dragged him underwater. According to reports, there were multiple danger signs warning visitors against swimming in the waters. No word on if charges will soon follow, but the tragedy has raised even more controversy on whether the parents were neglectful in this particular matter. So far the public outcry has been that of support for this family. A total of at least 5 alligators were euthanized in attempts to recover the boy’s remains.

I try to not judge anyone’s parenting, especially in such traumatic situations such as these. Though I am not a parent, I would have to agree that parenting has got to be one of the most challenging “jobs” ever. There’s no step by step manual. However, I do believe that the parents’ main focal point should be to protect and keep their child safe -to the best of their ability. Even animals of the wild practice the law of protecting their young.

In these scenarios where the family is grieving the loss of their child, it is hard to imagine pointing a finger of fault at the parents, but nonetheless it raises the question of why a parent would not keep a closer eye on a 2 year old, especially around swampy waters accompanied with danger warnings all around. To me, that could be defined as neglect but it’s certainly not that cut and dry.

There is a big difference in an accident and actually allowing or putting a child directly in harm’s way, and most of us don’t believe tragedies will happen to us therefore we might not exercise proper caution at all times. When a child is involved does that constitute neglect?

Careful not to compare apples to oranges because both incidents are clearly horrifying accidents in which the kids were put in extreme danger for being typical curious 2 & 3 yr. olds. Kids are inquisitive and fearless little beings, especially little boys. Can you blame parents?

Both are tragic, but the real question is why one family received backlash for not keeping a close eye on their child and the other received public support. In both cases animals were killed as a result of possible parent neglect, but there was no public outcry for the 5 alligators euthanized, only the gorilla.

Either way, these stories are still horribly gut wrenching and if nothing else will hopefully heighten awareness surrounding child neglect, pinpointing the truthful dangers of not keeping an close eye (and hand) on kids, especially around animals. Who is to blame when something like this goes wrong?

What’s your opinion?

Join the discussion.

 

WATCH: Fed Up ‘Southern Momma’ Shoots Kid’s Cell Phone As Punishment 

Lol! This is my kinda mom! I wholeheartedly respect a mom who takes charge of her young, especially when they’re out of line. She’s quite the sharp shooter too! 

In the middle of her speech she says, “get a shot of them” as the cameraman pans her 3 children who appear horrified to see their phones blown to smithereens. 

That’ll learn em’!

Peep the story and fire off in the comments.

A mother in Georgia has had enough of her children’s foul attitude – and she’s blaming their social media on it. So she took her gun to it.

In a video posted on YouTube, titled “Southern Momma Has Had Enough!!!,” the woman declares her hatred for social media in an extreme way.

“I hereby denounce the effects of social media have on my children; their disobedience and disrespect,” the woman said. And then, the phone is blown to pieces.

Check her out:

Source | WSBTV 

 

ITT Tech Lawsuit Claims School Misled Students 

According to Massachusetts Attorney General:

For-profit educational giant ITT Technical Institute inflated its job-placement rates by counting “any job (graduates got) that somehow involved the use of a computer” and misled prospective students about the quality of its programs as part of its high-pressure recruitment tactics.

The state Attorney General’s Office filed suit against ITT Educational Services Inc., which runs ITT Tech schools, in Norfolk Superior Court. From at least 2010 to May 2013, the for-profit school aggressively enrolled students based on misleading information, according to the lawsuit.

ITT Tech has two schools in Massachusetts.

State Attorney General Maura Healey:

“These students were exploited and pressured to enroll with the promise of great careers and high salaries, but were instead left unable to repay their loans and support their families.” 

According to the suit, ITT Tech admissions staff told potential students it had an 80 to 100 percent job placement rate when the actual rate was around 50 percent or less. To inflate their numbers, ITT Tech allegedly counted jobs that fell outside students’ field of study, including jobs selling computers at big box stores and a job providing customer service for an airline.

Further, ITT Tech placed heavy pressure on its representatives to bring new students to the schools. The Attorney General’s Office said recruiters were expected to call as many as 100 people per day “and were publicly shamed or fired if they failed to meet their quotas.”

The technical college’s also touted its Computer Network Systems program and hands-on training but provided students with outdated technology and absent teachers, the lawsuit alleged.

In a news release Monday, ITT Educational Services characterized the suit as a continuation of a “wide-ranging fishing expedition” on the part of the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office.

“Some of the claims rest on a biased and selective portrayal of the facts,” the company said, adding that the Attorney General’s Office failed to explain how it calculated its estimates for job placement rates and calling such calculations “unreliable.”

The company said it has been under investigation by the Attorney General’s Office for three years and has been cooperating with investigators. It further characterized the lawsuit as proof of “Massachusetts’ woeful record of hostility toward career colleges that train non-traditional and underserved students.”

The suit is the latest in a long string of investigations into ITT Tech’s practices.

Fifteen former students sued the technical college in 1998, claiming they had been duped. The school settled its claims later that year.

In 2014, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau sued ITT Educational Services Inc. for predatory student lending, saying the school pressured students into predatory loans, coerced them to continue taking classes by making their credits nontransferable to nonprofit institutions and mislead students on future job prospects. That same year, the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office also filed suit.

In 2015, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged ITT Education Services Inc., its chief executive officer Kevin Modany and its chief financial officer Daniel Fitzpatrick with fraud.

Attorneys general in at least 17 states and the District of Columbia have also opened probes into ITT Tech’s practices.

Over 40,000 students attend ITT Technical Institutes at more than 130 campuses in 38 states, according to to the company.

Source: AJC Atlanta

Check out another interesting post, “College or No College” on TheSocialMobLLC.com.