They shouldn't have been swimming... - Page 4

[eepster]

Originally Posted by mommahhh

12 years old is the cusp of adulthood? Wow, I had no idea.

In jewish society, a boy has his bar mitzvah when he turns 13, celebrating him turning into a man.

[SAHDS]

Originally Posted by LynnS6

I hope that the neighbor who had the kids to swim will do some restitution! (FWIW, his parents' homeowner's insurance will probably be liable.)

Did I miss the part where the boy threw her into the pool?

Why should his parents have to suffer for her parents mistake and negligence?

[zeldamomma]

Originally Posted by SAHDS

Did I miss the part where the boy threw her into the pool?

Why should his parents have to suffer for her parents mistake and negligence?

Because they're the ones who installed a pool, and didn't do much to keep kids out of it during the day while they were at work. It isn't like the neighbor kids scaled a fence-- they were invited in by the boy whose parents installed the pool.

It seems like all the parents involved (with the exception of the injured girl's mom) are handling this fine, and I wouldn't advocate anyone suing anyone or calling CPS. But if this kid is regularly inviting his friends over to swim when his parents aren't home, they do have a responsibility to stop it, even if that means making sure their son is never home alone.

My opinion of CPS is that they were never intended to be an alternative to talking to your neighbors about what's going on with their kids. If your neighbor has left kids home alone, and there's evidence the kids don't have the maturity to be left alone, open your mouth and tell the parents what you know before you run off and drag CPS into it. CPS has more than enough on its plate, they aren't here to save you from an awkward conversation.

ZM

[Mary-Beth]

In some ways "we" don't let kids have responsibilities and trust them to do things on their own and in some ways we rush kids to grow up...
I see lots of examples of both so it's a complex issue.

Anyway, I think 12 yo is usually old enough to be home alone and if the 12 is mature and responsible enough 12 is old enough to babysit. (depending on age of younger child and length of time, etc.) However, it is never old enough to babysit by the pool.

We have a pool at our house and we have strict pool safety rules. I don't let the 16yo who watches our 5 and 7yo's to go in the pool area without me. Both my girls can swim-- probably better than me! But still....I must be there. I do hope the pool-family is making sure the kids aren't going in that pool without adults to supervise.

Any update on the injured girl? I do hope she is recovering well.

[nextcommercial]

Originally Posted by Mary-Beth

Any update on the injured girl? I do hope she is recovering well.

I think she went to school today. Her teeth and gums still look gross, but, she seemed to be doing well this weekend.

The pool house boy, is indeed still alive. I saw him last night. Apparently, when he broke the rule, they sent him to spend the rest of spring break at his Dad's house, which he didn't like at ALL because his stepmom is a clean freak tyrant. (evil laugh)

So, he learned that mom and dad aren't going to put up with that. They made him write WHAT went wrong. He had to hand write a two page essay on what exactly happened and who's responsibilty it was. They said he didn't seem to focus on the fact that the other kid got hurt.. which is what they wanted. It wasn't that she got hurt that went wrong.. it was that HE invited the neighborhood over to swim that went wrong. The accident was just a very unfortunate side issue that happened. They don't want him to think that he got in trouble because she got hurt. He got in trouble because he came up with a stupid idea.

[journeymom]

Wow, that's impressive. He had to think it through and write it down. I'm impressed.