Would you let your 5 y.o. child swim with sharks and then post on FB? (7 year old, family)
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If you go camping in the North East, isn't it a reasonable "fear" or concern that you would come across a bear? I think that is the point buddy5 was making.
Not particularly.
Black bears are exceedingly shy. I have been camping all over the NE, probably two hundred nights all together over the last twenty years, and I have seen black bears exactly twice. Woods are big, bears are relatively spread out. And even when concentrated in an area, it is known that that area is "bear country".
Same with sharks. The dangerous sharks are not evenly spread throughout the oceans. Most people who swim are not going to come across a dangerous shark. People who go out and actually FEED sharks by using blood and fresh fish, are not only going to be with sharks, but they will be with them in a feeding and aggressive mode.
Also we have to remember that sharks are not a uniform group. Nurses, porbeagles, duskies, dogfish, etc are fairly likely to be around when you are swimming but are not dangerous. The same way racoons and squirrels are much more likely to be around than bears.
Five or twenty five, as a parent I'm not feeling the difference, I wouldn't let my 21 year old swim with sharks (like I could stop her if I wanted to). I have caught too many fish in my life to tempt Karma.
We call it going to the beach, sharks call it going to the super market.
I may get in trouble with this with the mods as this is off topic. But I would like to point out that this kind of thing does not make it easy for anyone to take your points seriously as you don't give the same courtesy. Don't assume you know what anyone else is thinking or attribute motives other what they say. It is rude and obnoxious.
You're absolutely right...
That was off-topic...
It was merely a suggestion, and it certainly wouldn't do any harm. A child being interested in something does not mean they need an up close and personal view of it. And being told "No, you're not swimming with the sharks" is hardly going to traumatize them. It's worth a shot, hell. And then, if they pull a Veruca Salt, buy 'em a pony. Preferably a rabid one so they won't become boring.
Five or twenty five, as a parent I'm not feeling the difference, I wouldn't let my 21 year old swim with sharks (like I could stop her if I wanted to). I have caught too many fish in my life to tempt Karma.
We call it going to the beach, sharks call it going to the super market.
Why can't people understand it is somewhere in between?
Sharks are not going to the beach to eat people. They do to the beach to eat their natural prey, and due to turbidity issues, they sometimes mistakenly bite people. For the vast majority of "attacks" that is where it ends. It is a rare thing indeed to have the shark then come back to actually eat you.
That being said, it is also good to remember they are animals, some of the predators, and many of them are unpredictable in the extreme.
Caution is the word to be used with sharks, not fear, not blind acceptance.
It was merely a suggestion, and it certainly wouldn't do any harm. A child being interested in something does not mean they need an up close and personal view of it. And being told "No, you're not swimming with the sharks" is hardly going to traumatize them. It's worth a shot, hell. And then, if they pull a Veruca Salt, buy 'em a pony. Preferably a rabid one so they won't become boring.
I agree with the guy at the end of the article when he said he's more upset about no seat-belts on school busses...
Which is quite interesting since school busses would be MORE risky WITH seat belts (apparently this guy is into taking risks). Try getting 60 kids buckled correctly (buckled incorrectly can be worse than not buckled at all) and then getting them all unbuckled in an emergency.
BTW, they aren't needed on buses because physics is on the side of the passengers. 1) busses are bigger than most vehicles on the market so they'll likely win in an impact. 2) even if they hit something, it will likely be a head on collision and there is lots of crumple zone. Think of the seats on a bus like the compartments in an egg carton. The farther back you are, the less you feel the impact (we see this to a lesser extent in the back seat of cars).
As for swimming with the sharks, I saw lots of people doing so in the video. It doesn't look, to me, like they were doing anything particularly dangerous. I, personally, would have been too freaked out to allow it but I'm really over protective of my kids. This is their call. The girl was with an instructor at all times. It's not like they turned her loose in the ocean filled with sharks.
As for swimming with the sharks, I saw lots of people doing so in the video. It doesn't look, to me, like they were doing anything particularly dangerous. I, personally, would have been too freaked out to allow it but I'm really over protective of my kids. This is their call. The girl was with an instructor at all times. It's not like they turned her loose in the ocean filled with sharks.
Please watch the entire video. First the sharks were fed without the girl swimming but a bunch of bystanders. Then the mother girl and "bodyguard" go snorkeling in deeper water with reef sharks.
Please watch the entire video. First the sharks were fed without the girl swimming but a bunch of bystanders. Then the mother girl and "bodyguard" go snorkeling in deeper water with reef sharks.
I'm sorry I don't see the issue. Obviously, the adults didn't think there was in an issue and they had an expert with them. It's not like they were swimming at the beach and said "Oh Sharky...let's go pet him". It was a supervised swim.
It's not something I would have done myself or with my kids but there are lots of things I won't do myself or with my kids that other parents allow but there are things I would allow. For example, my kids like cats. If they were offered the opportunity to pet a lion with a trainer right there, would I let them??? I probably would if they wanted to.
One question I haven't seen answered is when was the last time someone was attacked on such an excursion? What were the real odds of something going wrong?
I'm sorry I don't see the issue. Obviously, the adults didn't think there was in an issue and they had an expert with them. It's not like they were swimming at the beach and said "Oh Sharky...let's go pet him". It was a supervised swim.
Expert? A man the mother stated was the hired "body guard" for the week they were on vacation is now an expert in shark behavior?
Supervised? How so, because her mother and the paid body guard was swimming with the five year old?
Quote:
It's not something I would have done myself or with my kids but there are lots of things I won't do myself or with my kids that other parents allow but there are things I would allow. For example, my kids like cats. If they were offered the opportunity to pet a lion with a trainer right there, would I let them??? I probably would if they wanted to.
One question I haven't seen answered is when was the last time someone was attacked on such an excursion? What were the real odds of something going wrong?
Lemon and caribbean grey reef sharks have 50 attacks on people in the ISAF. Considering the under reporting, particularly those from less developed nations, you can assume real attacks are statistically significantly higher. Also, consider the were snorkeling at the same beach they had just been feeding the sharks (which btw would mean it was a provoked attack not unprovoked) makes it much more likely than they had just been swimming and randomly saw a shark. Even so, the odds of an attack are still low, but as has been stated multiple times, the risk to a child is greater than that to an adult. And parents have a moral obligation to make an informed decision. I haven't seen a lot on here to think anyone is making an informed decision. People either think all sharks are evil or that just because someone knows how to snorkel that makes the a trained professional shark behaviorist.
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