Originally posted by Canadian Moose
Soooo, because he didn't MEAN to do it, his actions or lack thereof AFTERWARDS totally exonerate him from any responsibilty or liability?
I never said he wasn't responsible. I simply said that he couldn't really be held responsible for the child’s actions or the negligence of the teachers. So, free from responsibility, in a way, yes. Liability, no.
My main point though is that most of you guys are approaching this like he maliciously shoved shards of broken glass down this kids throat and snuck away into the shadows. It simply isn't the case. It was an accident. Let's say these were two kids that belonged to anyone on these boards. Two brothers. One brother is being irresponsible and breaks a window. The second brother is outside playing and happens upon the broken glass, picks a piece up and stabs himself in the eye. As the parent of both children, are you going to call for the other child to be subjected to corporal punishment? No. You'll be angry with child one, but that doesn't change the fact that it was a simple accident. In this case, he knew he could break the ornament, but hit it anyway. All I'm saying is that both of these children are the responsibility of the "adults" to which they have been entrusted. I mean, if this ornament had fallen off a tree and shattered on the ground and some kid picked it up and ate it...who would be to blame then?
To answer the original post, no. I don't think you should be worried that you're going to jail or a reformatory. Yes, you should feel bad. Confess? That's up to you. Will it help the kid?...probably not. Will it make you feel better? Yes.
And one question: Is there a big effort on the part of school officials to find the person who broke the ornament? Or is this just your conscious getting to you?
Originally posted by Jedi Priestess
Well this thread has been educational to say the least, if nothing else it demonstrates clearly why I have always liked, Corran, Moose and Corn all along.And I agree 100%, this is ALOT of whats wrong with kids today, it's almost like they have NO moral compass whatsoever.
Moral Compass...such a good choice of words.
exactly. You stated that YOU were acting like an idiot, therefore your concious is obviously bothering you. Seems to me that you have come here telling this story in order to get some kind of 'all clear' from the net folks just because you say it was an accident. No go. I'm sure you are sorry, not because of what you did but as much as the thought you may get caught. That may sound harsh but thats the way it looks. And lets not forget that this was AT CHURCH which means a couple of things:
1) You should take responsibility for your actions regardless of teh consequences
2) If you truly are sorry you should make amends by first apologizing and then doing what you can to make things better
3) If your church truly follows the teachings of Christ and you repent with a pure heart, you will be forgiven...therefore you should have nothing to fear
It was incredibly irrsponsible for you not to clean up the mess you made... Three minutes of your time could have prevented this tragedy. Yes the child should not have eaten the glass, but he is a TODDLER, thats what they do. And yes the teachers should have kept a better eye on him but , speaking as a preschool church teacher, circumstances sometimes get away from you. All it takes is one child hitting or biting or acting up to divert your attention away from the rest of your class. Sad but true. Therefore the 'blame' so to speak is on everyone involved.
However, since your concious is getting to you, it is obviously weighing on your heart. trust me.... it is MUCH better to go ahead & accept the consequences now than to let it eat away at you for years....which it will. Admit your fault, make amends, ask for forgiveness, learn from your mistakes and more than anything pray withput ceasing for this child.
oh my..... THAT i call trouble.....
you were a real idiot, but the glass smashing thing could have been anybody....and you feel bad about it. that this kid ate it is your bad luck....
that this happened in a chrurch doesn't touch me so much... could've been any place
i would confess.... because if there'S any chance someone else could find out, that this was you, you're dead!
I agree with Capt Fantastic on this one.
I'd like to think just about everyone in this thread who is bashing Cosmic truly hasn't taken the time to put themselves in his position and that they are speaking strictly from a moral stand point.
I have 2 young children, and I would be incredibly angry if I found out that my child choked on broken glass that was left as a result of what you had done, BUT....Going to someone and admitting what you did, and taking some action would sure make it a lot easier for me to deal with, had it been my child.
Right, and you wouldn't be seriously angry at yourself for not teaching your child not to put sharp, dangerous objects down their throats.
I think a lot of adults in here who are giving their opinion aren't actually lowering their maturity level far enough. Lower yourself down to the point in your life where you would do stuff like smack around a christmas ornament with a tube....and THEN go step by step through it. The shattering, the initial fear of getting caught that makes you drop the bat and get the hell out of the room.
Put yourself in THAT situation....I'm sure his reaction is more than understandable.
Obviously the mature thing to do is clean up the glass but how it broke in the first place was due to lack of maturity. Do expect this maturity to be turned on like a light switch?
I think you should still talk to someone about this. The parents of that kid must be a mess and maybe hearing the whole story might help them understand what happened to their son. They really can't blame you for the accident. You only did part of the damage, their son did the rest of the damage to himself.
I haven't been addressing if he should suck it up and tell on himself. I've been talking about how much trouble he could get in. If it had been me, I wouldn't have picked up a glass ornament and whacked it with a piece of pvc tubbing in the first place. And while I agree with most of you saying that he should take responsability for his actions, I just don't feel he should be held responsible for the childs actions or for the neglect of the teacher.
Thanks Link. It is odd that everyone is telling him to be a man and suck it up, while also telling him that he acts like a kid.
Originally posted by Canadian Moose
[QUOTE]They really can't blame you for the accident. You only did part of the damage, their son did the rest of the damage to himself.Right, let's blame the preschooler. [/B]
Lets blame the teacher who wasnt watching him..
Also if I were you and the kids LIVES I would NOT admit to doing it.. your life would be over. If the kid dies you should admit to doing it, but if the kid does live then i say just try to forget all about it and just go to confession a lot and try to make yourself sleep better at night
Oh my god I just saw it on the news, they were talking about it and said the kid is in critical condition, and they had a phone number you can call if you have any information about who left the glass there, one for the police station and one for the church. I can't believe this, I am literally shaking right now. My parents invited the family over for a christian get together because they feel bad for them, and the kids family is coming over to my house today to eat and pray. I'm so afraid I have no idea what to do because I don't want to get into trouble
Originally posted by Canadian Moose
[QUOTE]They really can't blame you for the accident. You only did part of the damage, their son did the rest of the damage to himself.Right, let's blame the preschooler. [/B]
I don't think it's a matter of BLAMING the preschooler, so much as it's a part of accepting that preschoolers put things in their mouth. Little kids do this. It's totally natural, which is why the teacher should have been paying more attention. If you have a pre-schooler in your house and he sticks his finger in a light socket, you don't blame the power company because there is juice flowing to that outlet, you blame the parents for not providing adequate socket covers to protect the child from himself.