General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: In Gorilla's Death, Critics Blame Mother, Cincinnati Zoo [View all]magical thyme
(14,881 posts)you do not let go of his hand. Period. If you have more children to watch over than you can handle, if two of them start acting up, it's time to go home.
And if one is acting up, insisting repeatedly that he's going into the pool, but you cannot hang on to his hand and keep your eyes on him because you have other small children to watch, it's time to take them all home.
Nobody is capable of watching a child 100% of the time, but there are time periods when you do not take your eyes off of them or let go of their hands. Crossing a busy street is one of those times.
And visiting a zoo with large, potentially dangerous animals and a kid that insists he's getting in to their enclosure, is another one of those times.
He told her what he intended to do. And when she told him "no" he insisted that was what he intended. She is 100% responsible for failing to control her child, not 100% of the time, but for the few minutes when he made his way into the pool that he had told her he intended to get to.