Kids

Do you remember what you did when you were two and half years old? I doubt most people will.

Although I don't remember explicitly what I did then, I guess I was still learning how to walk steadily, how to speak a few simple words, playing with toys, etc. I was very reliant on my parents and would probably cry if I'm left alone...


From: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201103311531-233881.html

为买玩具糖果　2岁半男童独自搭巴士到怡丰城

2岁半男童要求父亲买玩具不果，竟自己从乌美搭巴士到怡丰城，父母报警后，男童在3个小时后才被寻获。

这起罕见的事故发生在前晚9时左右。男童的父亲卡马拉加（35岁），在乌美2道第301座组屋楼下经营杂货店。

卡马拉加说，“事发前一天，我答应隔天带他去小印度买玩具，但后来没有去。他来杂货店问我什么时候去时，我回答说‘明天’，就叫他回家。”

他表示，儿子相当独立，不用陪伴也能自己上楼回家，所以他当时也没有顾忌。

“5分钟后，我打电话回家给老婆，才发现儿子并没有回家。我们在附近找了40分钟仍不见儿子的踪影，只好报警处理。”

儿子失踪后，卡马拉加和妻子及5岁女儿焦虑不安，幸好当晚11时45分就接到警方通知，说儿子已经找到了。

卡马拉加说：“我有时会带家人一起搭巴士到小印度，儿子或许凭这个印象，想要自己搭巴士去买玩具，结果一路搭到了怡丰城。”

小童高80公分，搭巴士免付费。

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And there you are, a 2-half year old boy taking a bus to somewhere entirely on his own.

However I've a few doubts about this incident:

1) By letting him roam independently, won't his parents be afraid of kidnappers? Or accidents? Since kids of this age usually aren't aware of their surroundings, tend to walk into people's paths, collide with objects, fall into pits/drains, defenseless against danger, etc. And there are all kinds of people around. You'll never know what will happen.

2) Wasn't the bus driver suspicious when he/she saw the kid getting up the bus on his own? Few possibilities: a) bus driver unaware, too focused on driving, b) bus driver was aware, but bochup, c) bus driver thought the kid belongs to one of the passengers who boarded the bus at the same time. I think most likely is case (c). Same goes to other passengers in the bus.

3) Does the kid know which bus to take and where to stop? I really doubt so. I think he just took the first bus (or any bus he likes) that came along. As for where to stop, I think he alighted along with majority of the passengers, or just took all the way to the terminal stop. That's why he ended up at Vivocity instead. But that doesn't change the fact that he was independent enough to take a bus alone.

Do you remember when was the first time you took a public bus alone? (or without the help of an adult) For me, I think it was around Primary 1. Sneaked out in the afternoon without my parent's consent and took a bus to Jurong East MRT. The bus stop only had a single feeder bus, and I just had to take all the way to the terminal. At least I was with a neighbour 2 years older than me, so I wasn't that afraid. And I can't really remember the purpose of going there. Perhaps to buy toys? Haha, kids are so predictable, so pure...

However the rule of thumb is, best not to let a kid wander around alone, or leave him/her alone at a place without supervision. Why?? Let's see...


From: http://news.omy.sg/News/Local%2BNews/Story/OMYStory201104051530-234924.html

1天4大巧合悲夺6岁童命

4大巧合夺走可爱6岁男童的命。

本报昨日独家报道，6岁男孩疑独自在家，踩上洗衣篮，结果跌出厨房窗口，头破血流当场身亡。

意外事故发生在昨早8时55分左右，地点是淡滨尼42街第446座组屋5楼的住家单位。死者王敬荃（昨译王敬谦）睡醒后，竟跑到厨房，爬上洗衣篮和一个箱子，结果跌出窗口，当场身亡。死者父亲受访时，感慨一切突发事故仿佛巧合地发生，变成命中注定发生的坠楼意外。

巧合1：父母没碰面
男童母亲当天早上8时左右和7岁女儿最先出门。死者的父亲大约半小时后出门，没碰见即将回来的妻子。之前每周一，妻子带女儿去学游泳后，回来家时，都会和丈夫碰面，事发当天却没有。

巧合2：外公出门
男童外公在女婿出门后，也随后坐轮椅搭电梯到楼下喝咖啡，刚好他出门后，男童就起床来。

巧合3：死者突早起
死者平时是过了早上9时才起床，但昨天突提早半小时起床。

巧合4：幼儿园放假
死者母亲每逢周一早上带大女儿去上游泳课时，也会顺便带死者到幼儿园上学，但昨天幼儿园恰好放假。

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This time it's a tragedy, unlike the previous case. The article raised 4 coincident points.

1) Does whether the parents met or not have any relation to the boy's death? It was said that the mother went to run some errands before heading home, that's why she reached home later than usual.

2) Will the grandfather be able to stop the boy from climbing up the window if he were at home? Maybe, maybe not. Depends on the boy's purpose of climbing.

3) Some coincidental variation. But then again he was not expected to wake up that early due to the next point.

4) I am confused by this point. If the boy goes to kindergarten every morning, why would he be expected to wake up at 9am? Wouldn't he be expected to wake up earlier to prepare for school before leaving house with his mother and sister at 8am?

According to another source, it was said that the boy attended afternoon session, so the holiday didn't play a big role. But precisely because he didn't have to go school that day, he was expected to wake up later. And thus his mother felt safe in leaving him at home alone, and going out to run errands first before heading home.

After looking at the 4 'coincidence', it would seem that point no. 4 might be the greatest indirect cause of his death. Of course no one can be blamed.

There is another important point not mentioned in the article, which I think plays the biggest part in causing his death...

Why he climb up the window in the first place?

I kind of understand this, because I'm guilty of such behaviour too when I was small. I agree it's very dangerous, but kids usually don't have a sense of danger. Fortunately the window grills were normally locked.

(Go find out more if you want to know why)

I picked this two articles because I felt guilty of such actions, but I'm glad it didn't escalate to any tragedy.