"hero" student finds toddler wandering the streets

crazygeryy

jamesbondings wrote: »

I agree, dont get me wrong, he DID do the right thing but in that situation anyone would, wouldnt they??

Because of All the horror movies I've seen if i saw a two yr old walking the road at 2am in the morning i would have **** myself.but yes anyone would have done the same.

Chinasea

The child looks quite tall for a 2 year old. Looked like he would be well capable of opening doors.

efb

Piliger wrote: »

Having brought up three children as a home parent I disagree. They should be held responsible for their duty of care.

Is it easy mind them from your vantage point?

mrsbyrne

Piliger wrote: »

I hope the social services pay a call to those parents and put them on a watch list. Unbelievable behaviour.

...and here we go with the Perfect in Every Way Parents Association

zindicato

same thing happened to my wife years ago when we were living in monkstown , she was going into work about 6 am then she called me back after 10 minutes saying she found a toddler walking towards the road in her pyjamas and barefoot it was winter time when this happened, so i told her to ask the garage in the corner first as they are in the corner from our estate and 90% of the time parents would drop by in there to get something before heading home may it be last minute , milk, sweets and such and ring the gards if nobody really knows her. When she went in there the attendant recognized the kid as the daughter of the couple who lived a few minutes away, she asked the attendant if she should call the police, the attendant said no as the couple are TROUBLE and we could be in deep Sh*t, so she brought her back to her house, front door was open , knocked for more than 5 minutes before the dad came down the stairs didnt say a word, took the kid inside and slammed the door in her face.

Few weeks after we found out that the kid was taken away together with her brother and sister as both parents were arrested for selling drugs.

cletus van damme

Piliger wrote: »

I hope the social services pay a call to those parents and put them on a watch list. Unbelievable behaviour.

jaysus....just jaysus.:rolleyes:

Piliger wrote: »

Having brought up three children as a home parent I disagree. They should be held responsible for their duty of care.

I'm kinda thinking you don't have kids.
most parants will tell you that kids do mad stuff that you'd never even think of until they do it.

if the girl forgot to lock the front door - it hardly makes her a bad mother.
People can forget things accidentially. i've left my back door unlocked on occasion through forgetfulness.

so get down off your moral high horse.

doolox

This would make me stop in my tracks if confronted with a 2yr old at 2am in the street. I'd say a lot of people would keep on going about their business as most people would be in cars or taxis at that time of night. Kid very lucky that student was there and on foot at the right time and knew what to do.

barone

People think of the consequences if the person who found him wasnt so saintly.. door left open..parents asleep..be hours before anyone notices..

Glad that student found him

Hitchens

The young student hero is from Kilkenny, so nothing surprising about him taking the initiative and charging to the rescue of the toddler

Well done James!

endacl

Let a bus merge from a stop this morning. Everybody else was scooting ahead. I'm a feckin' hero. Where's my article?!? Yesterday, I held a door open for a woman with a pram. One more act of civic heroism and I'm in with a shout for freedom of the city!

PM me with your address if you'd like an autograph.

tomred1

I can't understand why the mother decided to hold a press conference over this? I would not want to draw any attention to myself as it shows her in a bad light as a very neglectful parent to let a 2yr old kid get down a stairs and out the front door, especially at night.

William F

William F wrote: »

I couldn't believe the attitude of the old lady.

Well she had the very same attitude as yourself so you would want to start believing it.

The One Doctor

That story terrifies me. Not because of the the risk of paedophiles - that risk is, let's be honest, virtually non-existent in that situation, despite the paedohysteria (the vast, vast majority of children are abused in the home or other places of security by adults known to them). No, what terrifies me is that a little girl or boy is alone and very scared on the streets with a high risk of stepping into traffic or being attacked by a dog. I'm glad they are safe and the parents will have learned a valuable lesson.

People must realise that the hysteria created by media outlets about children being abused at random in the streets is simply that, hysteria. I'm a male and frankly I was nervous smiling at a kid at this point in case the mother called the guards. I was even nervous around my 3 year old niece until I realised that I was caught up in the hysteria myself. So I relaxed and started smiling at kids again. Cue happy smiles, mothers not giving a damn and a far better relationship with my niece. Now she'll take my hand and actually drag me in to have a tea party and we get on brilliantly. Fcuk that stupid hysteria.

Lollipops23

I used to work in a department store when I was in my teens- it would happy a few times a month that a kid would wander off and get lost. A couple of times one of the lads would bring the kid to the nearest female staff member and ask them to take care of the situation, rather than be left alone with the kid.

Always made me sad that they felt they couldn't mind the child for the few mins it would take to locate the parents, for fear of something being misinterpreted or being accused of something.

Fair play to the guy who looked after the toddler, plenty would have pretended not to see him.

Maximus Alexander

tomred1 wrote: »

I can't understand why the mother decided to hold a press conference over this? I would not want to draw any attention to myself as it shows her in a bad light as a very neglectful parent to let a 2yr old kid get down a stairs and out the front door, especially at night.

Unless she goes without sleep in order to sit by his bed staring at him all night, how could you expect her to prevent this? There's nothing neglectful about it. Sometimes shit happens.

tomred1

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

Unless she goes without sleep in order to sit by his bed staring at him all night, how could you expect her to prevent this? There's nothing neglectful about it. Sometimes shit happens.

Seroiusly?, ok a child can climb over a gate on the stairs but not too lock your front door, is neglectful.

Plazaman

What's the world coming to that 2 year olds can wander our streets freely in the dead of night. That student is indeed a brave lad, what if that child had a knife? Oh ya, no one thought of that, could be a very different story altogether today.

Bloody knife wielding, night wandering toddlers. It boils my blood.

Maximus Alexander

tomred1 wrote: »

Seroiusly?, ok a child can climb over a gate on the stairs but not too lock your front door, is neglectful.

A two year old can open a locked door.

Unless you're suggesting locking it with a key and then hiding that key. Which would be all kinds of stupid since you've basically consigned the entire family to death if there's a fire.

i argee the guy did the right thing but no hero ?

eviltwin

Piliger wrote: »

I hope the social services pay a call to those parents and put them on a watch list. Unbelievable behaviour.

Ffs it happens, my own three year old wandered out of the house last summer, the last person to come in the front door hadn't closed it properly and he was able to walk outside. We didn't even notice he was gone until the bell went and there he was with a woman from around the corner. We took our eye off the ball for a second, it was a mistake, not deliberate negligence...I'm sure the same is true for the parents of this child.

IvyTheTerrible

I don't think the mum was neglectful. I have a two year old and he has figured out how to unlock the front door by himself. They can figure out lots of things at that age. We always lock the door at night but don't take out the key in case of fire.

SEPT 23 1989

My 3 year old has had many escape attempts,it only takes a second to take your eye off the ball forget to lock a door or a gate and they are gone

the only time he got out on the street was when i forgot to lock the front door and he took off at speed on his tractor,he was captured around the corner after crossing the road:eek:

looksee

My cat can open doors! (well, one door in the house anyway :-) ) A 2 year old would be quite capable, I have a granddaughter who devotes her life to escaping - usually involving opening doors, baby gates, any obstruction in her way.

pickarooney

The One Doctor wrote: »

That story terrifies me. Not because of the the risk of paedophiles - that risk is, let's be honest, virtually non-existent in that situation, despite the paedohysteria (the vast, vast majority of children are abused in the home or other places of security by adults known to them). No, what terrifies me is that a little girl or boy is alone and very scared on the streets with a high risk of stepping into traffic or being attacked by a dog. I'm glad they are safe and the parents will have learned a valuable lesson.

If he was that scared he would surely just have turned around and gone home?

Maximus Alexander

pickarooney wrote: »

If he was that scared he would surely just have turned around and gone home?

Maybe, but I suppose he depends on how far he had wandered. I wouldn't have thought 2 year olds would be great at navigating.

TireeTerror

looksee wrote: »

My cat can open doors! (well, one door in the house anyway :-) ) A 2 year old would be quite capable, I have a granddaughter who devotes her life to escaping - usually involving opening doors, baby gates, any obstruction in her way.

My cat does too, so then I took to dragging a chair in front of the door to stop him jumping onto the handle to open it, he now drags the chair away and then jumps up and opens the door! Followed by a piss in the utility room!!!

tomred1

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

A two year old can open a locked door.

Unless you're suggesting locking it with a key and then hiding that key. Which would be all kinds of stupid since you've basically consigned the entire family to death if there's a fire.

Yes lock the front door, have the house keys beside the parents or out of reach of small children, simple.

iguana

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

A two year old can open a locked door.

Unless you're suggesting locking it with a key and then hiding that key. Which would be all kinds of stupid since you've basically consigned the entire family to death if there's a fire.

I never double lock my front door when I'm home as I consider it a fire risk. It can't be opened from the outside so it's secure but I can open it from inside just by turning the handle. My son is too small to reach the handle now but maybe I'll have to rethink it when he's taller. Though he already knows how to turn a key to open doors where he can reach the handle, so when he's tall enough to reach the front door handle I'll have to double lock the door and take the key away, creating a fire hazard in order to be sure he can't leave the house by himself.

As for stair gates. He's only one but he can climb a normal stairgate in about 20 seconds. It would be incredibly dangerous for me to have one whereas he's been perfectly capable of safely getting up and down the stairs since he was 8 months old.

nc6000

Just like the train driver who noticed the bridge in Malahide collapsing after he went over it. He was a "hero" because he got on the radio and told someone what had just happened.

What else was he expected to have done? Just carried on and said nothing?

I Heart Internet

The One Doctor wrote: »

That story terrifies me. Not because of the the risk of paedophiles - that risk is, let's be honest, virtually non-existent in that situation, despite the paedohysteria (the vast, vast majority of children are abused in the home or other places of security by adults known to them). No, what terrifies me is that a little girl or boy is alone and very scared on the streets with a high risk of stepping into traffic or being attacked by a dog. I'm glad they are safe and the parents will have learned a valuable lesson.

Agree with you re paedohysteria, but you're creating your own caninehysteria. Dogs aren't just roaming the streets looking to eat toddlers.

I Heart Internet

The guy who found the toddler deserves a pat on the back for doing what most people would do. He may well be a hero to the child's parents but newspapers like to make a splash.

I suspect the word "hero" would not have been used if a woman found the child. I think there is an undercurrent of "Thank God this hero found the kid, every second man is a paedophile so we're lucky one of the good ones found him!!"

Maybe I'm being over sensitive though.

Maximus Alexander

tomred1 wrote: »

Yes lock the front door, have the house keys beside the parents or out of reach of small children, simple.

I wouldn't fancy muddling around for my keys when the room is filled with thick smoke.

About 50 people die in house fires every year in Ireland. I might be wrong, but I don't think that many toddlers go missing because they've sneaked out in the middle of the night. Locking the doors is legitimately dangerous for everyone in the house.

You could put a small nail into the doorframe or a small hook and put the keys on that, out of reach but still beside the door for when you're in a hurry
Family did that when I was a baby so I wouldn't lock myself into the bathroom

I Heart Internet

bluewolf wrote: »

You could put a small nail into the doorframe or a small hook and put the keys on that, out of reach but still beside the door for when you're in a hurry
Family did that when I was a baby so I wouldn't lock myself into the bathroom

Or sellotape kids to their beds. That's what we did in our house.

tomred1

Maximus Alexander wrote: »

I wouldn't fancy muddling around for my keys when the room is filled with thick smoke.

About 50 people die in house fires every year in Ireland. I might be wrong, but I don't think that many toddlers go missing because they've sneaked out in the middle of the night. Locking the doors is legitimately dangerous for everyone in the house.

It quiet easy to find things in the dark if you leave them in the same place all the time. I think not locking your front door as more dangerous as burglaras are looking for an easy targets and this thread shows another danger in not locking it.

IvyTheTerrible

tomred1 wrote: »

It quiet easy to find things in the dark if you leave them in the same place all the time. I think not locking your front door as more dangerous as burglaras are looking for an easy targets and this thread shows another danger in not locking it.

Not if you're panicking and the house is smoke filled.

iguana

tomred1 wrote: »

It quiet easy to find things in the dark if you leave them in the same place all the time. I think not locking your front door as more dangerous as burglaras are looking for an easy targets and this thread shows another danger in not locking it.

Most front doors single lock automatically once pulled closed. This means they can't be opened from the outside without a key but can be from the inside. It keeps unwanted 'guests' out but means you can get out easily in the case of a fire. But unfortunately it can mean that, like in this case, a small child can let him/herself out.

pickarooney

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

Not if you're panicking and the house is smoke filled.

What if the burglar is on fire and is also a paedophile?

IvyTheTerrible

pickarooney wrote: »

What if the burglar is on fire and is also a paedophile?

Then open the door and let the toddler run free!

D1stant

castletownman wrote: »

A two year old walking almost a mile at 2 in the morning in just his nightie and holding his blanket?

They breed them hardy in Limerick :eek:

I don't know about breeding them hard, but we certainly don't dress boys in nighties

Gandalph

I blame TV...Rugrats to be more specific, kids learning to escape the boundaries their parents set out for them.

iguana

So much hyperbole about this story. I just found out the family live in a totally different estate to that originally reported. A 300-400m walk from where he was found. So from the original story claiming he walked a mile along a busy road, to it then becoming that he walked a mile and was found as he reached a busy road (which you'd only know if you know the area) to it turning out he actually walked for 5 or 10 minutes and was found by two people, the student everyone is talking about and a taxi driver who has apparently faded from existence, as soon as he reached a main road (which actually isn't all that busy at 2am).

It's still a great story and could have turned out very differently if the little boy hadn't been found quickly. (He wasn't all that far from the canal where one of the missing students was found to have drowned earlier this week.) But much of the 'oh wow' factor that has been reported is total bs.

WilyCoyote

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gcm-tOGiva0

Please, no more. Just ornery folks from now on. Please!

py2006

If I was a parent of that child I would not have my big smiling face all over the papers. The embarrassment, shame and the awful feeling in my gut that I wasn't doing enough to secure my home would have me indoors for months.

rubadub

The "hero" tag reminds me of the word "brave", I expect many kids growing up believe "brave" is a term describes a sick child, it could be used in place of sick, as in "he's very brave"/"he's very sick"/"he's very unfortunate", as it's pretty much the only time I hear the term used now.

Dublin_Mom wrote: »

The sad reality is that a lot of men might be fearful of an accusation of how they came to be near the child in the first place, and would just walk on by. As a society we have become very phobic about men being near a child (usually when they are not related to the child)

Possibly not just men either. I posted this a while back

rubadub wrote: »

I had a similar one. I Was walking across a supermarket car park and see a young lad, maybe 4-5 walking across the zebra crossing in the car park, a car stopped and let him cross. I thought this strange and looked for somebody behind or in front of him. He went over to trolleys and I stood back a while just looking on in case he ran out in front of cars.

I start thinking I might look dodgy, didn't want some angry dad seeing me with his son, so I went up to some woman in her 60's and said "is that child with you, I think he might be lost", and she just said no and walked off. I thought she would have copped on I wanted her to "take over" and that the child would be less frightened of a old lady. So I ask him if he is lost and get no answer at all, he turns away, so figure he is told not to talk to strangers. Ask him where his mammy is -no answer.

Looked for a supermarket employee, we were near the front of the shop, I looked for a female one and just found a guy in his 40's, he was more senior knowing the uniforms. Told him the story and he looked at me warily like "what am I meant to do", and also might have been concerned being male. I was pointing at him, us both keeping an eye on him when the mother ran up and grabbed him, she looked at us and said thanks, copping on we were keeping an eye on him.

SEPT 23 1989

py2006 wrote: »

If I was a parent of that child I would not have my big smiling face all over the papers. The embarrassment, shame and the awful feeling in my gut that I wasn't doing enough to secure my home would have me indoors for months.

accidents happen any parent knows that,once its not happening every day of the week the parents should feel no shame

cazzer22

You'd be surprised how many people who would just walk on by assuming there is a logical reason for the toddler to be out on the streets.

Fair play to him, he should be made out to be a hero.

DublinWriter

brianb10 wrote: »

what else was he going to do? Leave him there and do nothing?

Happened about six years ago in the UK.

Two-year old was found drowned in a shallow garden pond after straying out of a creche.

Turns out a passing motorist had seen the child but was afraid to do anything in case he was branded a paedophile.

Get over yourself OP.

I Heart Internet

py2006 wrote: »

If I was a parent of that child I would not have my big smiling face all over the papers. The embarrassment, shame and the awful feeling in my gut that I wasn't doing enough to secure my home would have me indoors for months.

I can see why she would do it.

If she didn't people might (and I include myself in this) assume she's a no-good, careless junkie-mom who couldn't care less. When, in fact, she's just a parent who was unfortunate that her kid has a wandering streak that she hadn;t picked up on (and secured her home accordingly) until this incident.

OldNotWIse

Dublin_Mom wrote: »

To be honest, I do think this young guy deserves a lot of credit for taking control of the situation.

The sad reality is that a lot of men might be fearful of an accusation of how they came to be near the child in the first place, and would just walk on by. As a society we have become very phobic about men being near a child (usually when they are not related to the child)

So yes I think this young guy was brave to do the right thing.

I agree with you completely and was reading through wondering why nobody had brought that up. Even as a woman I think I would be paranoid too. Of course you can't leave the baby there but I'd call the police straight off instead of walking around with him for 20 minutes trying to find his house. Not saying that was wrong to do it but I'd be so paranoid at that point.

Remember reading a really funny post from a guy somewhere on Boards before who found an unattended small child in a pool who was struggling and he picked him up and held him at arms length asking, "does anyone own this child!?" - I see the conflict - dont want to let small kid die in front of you, dont want people to start shouting "monster!" at you...but the mental image I had was hilarious