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Parenting is challenging. Like, difficult. Anyone who tells you otherwise either doesn’t have children or is romanticizing the past through nostalgia.
There is no manual on how to be a good parent, how to behave in specific circumstances, or how to handle children who are misbehaving or pushing the limits of what they are permitted to do.
Perhaps this ambiguity, more than the proper parenting approach, is what causes so much friction. It seems like finding places where individuals passionately argue about raising children is more and more commonplace online.
In any event, a mother who was observed dragging her son through an airport by a harness tied around the toddler’s chest found herself in the heart of a storm of controversy. The 2019 incident was caught on camera and posted to TikTok, where it generated a fervent discussion among internet users.
If you’re a parent, there’s a good chance that you’ve dealt with your fair share of circumstances where your child has tried your patience.
We all have our ways of handling these circumstances, but I don’t think any of us can honestly say that we’ve always done it perfectly. Most of the time, we act according to what we believe is best for no one else.
Yet one mother took things too far in the eyes of some when she was caught on camera dragging her child through an airport by a leash.
TikToker @cacadoodledoo83 (Erica Shupe Hall) sparked a fierce debate when she uploaded the footage at an airport in Cancun, Mexico titled “Leaving Cancun is tough…I feel ya, buddy.”
The video quickly attracted enormous interest, amassing millions of views and countless contradicting comments.
The mother in the video appeared to be persuading her youngster to follow her. She started to pull the youngster across the carpet using a leash attached to a harness around his body when he flattened himself on the ground and refused to walk.
A real firestorm of opinions emerged in the comments section.
“My OCD would not allow me to drag my child on that dirty floor. I’d rather pick him up, but I guess I’m different,” one commentator, Delicia, wrote.
“Horrible parent. That’s child abuse,” another, JennyLisg, said.
A third wrote: “I just carry mine at that point. I’m not dragging them in that dirty floor.”
A fourth said: “There is a difference, in my opinion, [between] using a harness for the safety of your child and dragging the child with it on the ground. I wouldn’t do that to my dog, and I sure as hell wouldn’t do it to my child.”
Yet while plenty of people took exception to the mother’s tactics, others leaped to her defense.
One viewer, Sophia, wrote: “Lmao! Do what you gotta do momma.”
Another said: “I’m not saying it’s right… I’m saying I understand! Show me a perfect parent who has never made an error in judgment or hasn’t done whatever they could to survive the day.”
Shimona Jade Kennett added: “I don’t see any issue with this. Although she could’ve probably carried him, he seems okay to be pulled along. If the kid were [distressed], he would have been making a scene.”
A fourth wrote: “I had a harness and leash for my five kids. I never lost them. They never got hurt. They were safe and liked the independence of not having to hold my hand. I don’t recall ever having to drag them like this, but I understand how it could happen.”
Everyone can agree that using a leash and harness is an effective way to keep your child safe and minimize the possibility that they will become separated from you, however, the idea of using them in the first place tends to divide opinions among parents.
What do you think about harness use? Do you consider this mother’s actions to be improper? In the comment section, please share your opinions.
