ORIGINAL: Grim.Reaper
No offense, but the father could have been right next to the kid holding his hand and there is a good chance he still could not have done much to prevent the alligator from taking the kid unless he was a professional alligator handler. Big, quick, powerful animal...not many people stand a chance.
No offense, but I seriously doubt that. If the father or mother had been holding the boy's hand, I believe nothing would have happened.
They were watching a movie. Check the link in my previous post.ORIGINAL: warspite1
....We do not know what the parents were or weren't doing....
ORIGINAL: warspite1
and, given what we know about the warning signs, this is not really the point.
There was a potential for a tragedy to happen - a tragedy that had happened before (although thankfully not fatally). And that fact was seemingly withheld by means of appropriate warnings not being given.
What matters here is whether the parents - any parents - were fed sufficient information on which to base a decision about their child's safety. No Swimming (and a picture of a swimmer being crossed out) would, to most people, mean No Swimming. It simply does not mean "Do not enter the water" it does not state "Do not paddle" and it certainly does not warn people, who may come from all over, that there may be alligators in the water.
What I can't seem to get across is that the parents shouldn't have needed any signs. A two-year-old can move and act very quickly and is always getting into things. Parents of children that small have to be constantly alert and aware of where their child is and what their child is doing. That's why my grandmother always held the hand of her infant grandchildren or held them on her lap. Since she brought up ten children without losing a one, I'd say she knew what she was doing.
The father wrestled with the alligator in an effort to save his two-year-old. His action was commendable but he failed to save the boy; if he had had better control of the boy (e.g. holding him on his lap), there would have been no danger. Can't you people see that?
If some of the opinions expressed in this thread are any indication of what's going to happen in the aftermath of this tragedy, there will be a big lawsuit. The winners will be the lawyers and they will be the ones who come out ahead--plus whoever sold all those new signs to Disney, of course.