Every so often, me and my wife head into the Canberra Centre to have a wander around, maybe have a coffee and basically kill time. Unfortunately, of late I have noticed a disturbing practice. I have seen un-controlled toddlers running under the feet of shoppers, which caused significant congestion as they try to avoid walking on them. As if this isn’t bad and dangerous enough, the parent/s are standing there watching them with a stupid grin on their face saying things like “how cute” or “watch out baby”, without even attempting to retrieve the active youngster. I wonder how cute it would be if a shopping trolley ran one of them over? Whose fault would it be, especially since at times they can’t be seen until it is too late, thus un-avoidable.
I have four kids, who now range from 10-17 yo, thus I know what it is like to have a toddler. I also know that toddlers can and should be controlled in public places. I believe that it is the parents responsibility to control their toddlers in a public place where there is the potential for harm.
To that end, if you are one of the parents who refuse to control your toddler, please re-consider the practice as it is dangerous and I for one, do not wish to knock over a little one.
Thanks for reading…..