It’s no secret that moms who share or reveal anything about their parenting choices open themselves up to ridicule and judgment. Most of the time, the internet is being unfair and even cruel, but every once in a while, there is a story where all of the ire directed at a mother is warranted.
That was the case when a video of a woman and her child at Yellowstone National Park surfaced online. After watching it, even the most understanding person would have a hard time rationalizing what’s in the footage.
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The drop is 308 feet.
The Tourons of Yellowstone Instagram page shows a woman walking with a child at the edge of the Lower Falls in the park. Ignoring the existing barricades, the woman holds the child’s hand and gets closer and closer to the fast-flowing river. Touron is a derogatory term that mixes the word "tourist" with "moron."
As if that weren’t enough, she talks to a man behind the fence, making her even less attentive. For reference, the drop, according to the Daily Mail, is 308 feet. And it certainly wouldn’t be the first time tragedy struck at this site. In 2014, an 8-year-old girl fell more than 500 feet to her death, according to CBS News.
From 2007 to 2018, there were 2,727 deaths in National Parks, according to an estimate from Nevada law firm Panish Shea & Boyle LLC.
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A park historian said people don't often recognize how dangerous the country's national parks can be.
Lee Whittlesey, a park historian, told Cowboy State Daily, that the deaths are often the result of a false sense of security and "hubris or carelessness about the park's imminent dangers."
While this scenario didn’t end in tragedy, it didn’t stop people from chiming in with their disappointment and disgust.
“Ppl aren’t just endangering themselves when they do this s—, they’re endangering the first responders who have to show up and try to save them,” one comment reads.
Someone else took a more severe tone: “Please tell me she's been arrested and charged with child endangerment.”
Some people on social media said the mother should face criminal charges.
While some called for legal consequences, others suggested that this woman be banned from the park.
“The park service needs to make a law that says; if you break any rules in any park, you’re not allowed in that specific park and any other park for the rest of your life," suggested one commenter. "Then maybe people will wake up.”
A simple slip or loss of footing could have caused this scene to end differently. Neither the woman nor the child were wearing life jackets. We really don't even want to think about it.
'Don't drag children into it,' one user said about this woman's bad judgment.
There were also quite a few people who took pity on the child, who likely couldn’t comprehend the danger he was in at the time.
“Imagine not being able to rely on your parents for good advice,” one user wrote.
Someone else thought that the mother taking her child away from the barricades could have sent a message that rules don’t apply to her kid. Either way, everyone agreed the little one was placed in a terrible situation.
“Be a touron if you want, but don’t drag children into it,” one person wrote.
