Where were the parents, or the assigned chaperone?

I always have a party for orphans every Christmas and this time I decided to take them to a beach resort and give them a grand time. They were 90 of them and the nun who accompanied them had 90 pairs of eyes so to say, monitoring the activity of every single child there who were having a time of their life wading, and having fun. Supervision is an art and all are not cut up for this kind of work. I admired this nun as there were some bold ones who were trying to go beyond what was prescribed but she knew exactly when this was going to happen and she stopped it. Today's children need to be monitored and perhaps this did not happen the way it should have at the place you mentioned.

Hi GG True about the certain number of adults per children and if not enough the trips are no goes. Sure we cannot watch the kids every second of the day but during a field trip they have to be like hawks. It is not for the chaperones to enjoy, although they can along with the kids their priority is to keep a strict on the children that are assigned to them. As the parent of the child you best believe I would want a full proof investigation of the entire event. I would want to know if it was absolute neglect because that being the case I would want some drastic changes, so that no other child is put at risk. Now here at our zoos in IL they have a double kind of barricade which is several inches away from the actual cage so that prevents such type of events happening here. We also have zoo keepers who walk around to make sure no one crosses the barricades.

I hadn't heard about this. How terrible for that little boy! I'm sure every child watching will be having nightmares about it for a long time. Yes, I'd be wondering who wasn't doing their job watching too. I'm just speechless at the horror of it. Will have to watch the news tomorrow and see if they have any updates on it.

Oh my that is a terrible situation!!! I am sure the school did their best to keep track of him. At least I really hope they did!! This is a pretty young kid and some are wanders. They should have known this child enough to know he might sneak off like this and kept a better eye on him. I am glad he will heal physically. Emotionally I am sure it will take more time.

Yeah. I think they did not have the required supervision for this to happen. I wander where the person was who was to be responsible also but alot of times, groups are understaffed and it just cannot be helped unless they just go ahead and cancel the trip.

hi GardenGerty how awful but I am glad the boy will survive. That chaperone or parent should not be allowed to do this again as that was pure stupidity.If I were to chaperone children on a field trip I would ask for several more parents as a large group of kids 'on a field trip can be most unpredictable. someone has to watch tghem all all the time specially in a zoo with wild animals who are predators The leopard was just acting like it should.the person or persons responsible should have been alert and on watch and on guard at all times.

Firstly, I agree there needs to be supervision... let me get that straight off the get-go. However, looking at it from a different angle, there should be NO WAY a child should be able to go over, around, under, through, ... a barrier to even get close enough to any predatory animal. When it comes to children it rarely happens that they are mauled (they are not seen as a threat) and when it is a female there are cases where the animal has actually nurtured the child. When cubs are involved... different story. Thanks Zelo

I wonder if the parents will sue?? Whenever a child is harmed or injured, I have the same question as you. People say "you cannot watch them all the time" but the thing is...that's your job! You HAVE to watch them always. You do not leave little kids to do their own thing or assume they will be where you think they are. There are way too many occasions where children are harmed or even accidentally killed because no-one bothers to keep an eye on them or check where they are.

Oh wow, that is horrible, I hope the boy comes out of that experience not too traumatized..As one who was as assistant girl scout leader for 12 years, I can tell you that depending on the age, an adult can only supervise a certain amount or the trip would be off..For example, I think when the girls were little, 7-8 years old, each adult got 3, no more, so we'd ask a couple parents to help out...Then of course when they got older, say about 10-11, then all it took was the leader and myself with a group of 8-10 girls. I remember well, the constant inquires on special trips: "where is Amy or have you seen Bethany, etc..." I was more concerned though about a girl getting abducted than attacked by an animal, so I watched my girls pretty close..lol

I wonder how the kid is doing now since it's been five days or more since it happened. The poor kid!! I have to say that I agree with you, I'd like to hear more from the adult that was suppose to be watching him and the others. If it were my child, I'd be all over that persons @zz BIG TIME! They wouldn't be fit for another job that involves kids! I'd make sure of that!

Truthfully GG, I couldn't even imagine, whether it was one kid or 10 kids, letting them out of my sight for one second. They would be in front of me at all times so I could watch. This is just horrible. I hope the little fella is doing well they better start praying his nightmares will go away someday. Yes, it is a predatory act by the leopard and any of them would have done this..more so with babies around. I'm relieved she didn't get hold of his throat because this would have been the end for him. Yes, it will be interesting to see what happens to this person for being so careless and unreliable...I still can't believe "2" disappeared out of her sight.

I wonder about that too, although it is easy to criticize. When there is a large group of children, it is easy to get focused on a couple that are being noisy or unruly, and while that's happening, one could quickly go do something before being noticed. I also wonder about the fact that that exhibit is set up in such a way that the child and the leopard could have gotten that close to one another. Perhaps the fencing needs to be improved.

My first thought upon reading this was I bet the adults were all together chatting and such. There should be someone in the lead and someon in back to assure no kids wander off. I agree that this behavior is normal predatory behavior especially when a cub is involved. How horrible! Glad to hear the child is okay and that aren't going to put the leopard down because it was protecting its young.

There are several things to be said here. One is, of course, that there weren´t enough chaperones for the child. But everyone knows how children are: they are slippery when they want to do mischief. I also want to point out that that zoo is not safe enough. Zoos should be safe for children and for stupid grownups. Wild animals are VERY dangerous. An out fence that can be used to go over or under is not a barrier for a seven year old. When my children were that age, my husband and I took the girls to the zoo often, but they were supposed to accept that we took (grabbed in fact) their hands. If they tried to wiggle and push away, they´d get a smack on the butt. Those were the times when children learnt to behave.

I did not hear about this on the news at all. I hope the child is ok and doesn't have to go through too much. I would be so furious. I would not want to be the adult that was responsible for watching them!!

While I am really sorry for this child and would want to know more about the supervision, the truth is accidents like this happen even when the kids are being watched appropriately. It can happen really fast. One minute the kids is here, the next there already in danger. It happened in a school trip. It could happen in a visit to the zoo with the parents. It could happen in a two by two line even. Going on school trips is a great learning experience, and as a rule, things go well and supervision is good. Still accidents happen and is something to keep in mind. WHen I go on a school trip I tend to favor a two by two line and a small group per adult. Yet, kids have a tendency to wander faster than we can figure they're missing. Your stop to explain something to the group making sure they're all listening, and little Phineas Bolton escapes from the circle under Marybet's legs and sticks his finger in the electric outlet. As a side note, and not necessarily having anything to do with this case, often, when it is suggested that a child doesn't seem to show the appropriate social skills for this or that school trip, the school ends up with a battle with irate parents that resent the fact that their precious one is being singled out and prevented from experiencing that particular trip subject. This could be just as well, if more an more schools didn't have to cater to numbers more than instruction. Principals have to try and please all and sometimes not the best decisions are taken, but loosing kids ( = numbers ) could lead the school to be closed or to loose some hard earned privileges. Strange world.

This is so sad. When I was a child all of the adults in a neighborhood watched over all of the children, but now society is different and there are more tragedies of this sort. I agree that it is not the leopard's fault.

I'm glad this story didn't have a more tragic ending. The boy will be okay.. and the leopard will not be put down. Too often I hear such stories and the animal is put down.. but it's not the animals fault. She was protecting her babies. She doesn't understand that the boy meant no harm.. and if there had not been a fence, who knows what the boy could have done to a baby cub.. some humans are positively cruel. The animal had every right to protect herself and her baby. I agree the adults in charge of this boy ought to be questioned. If I were the child's parent I'd be outraged that his teacher's and chaperones allowed this to happen and I'd probably bring them to court myself.

omg. my kids never went any where like that without me. i went when it was a feild trp to the zoo. heard way to much about people getting mauled by wild animals. i bet those parents are regretting not going. i also bet they sue someone over this.

I just hate to read things like this as it is only the stupidity of others that allowed this to happen. when I took kids on Day Trips we made sure that the adults knew which kids they were in charge of as well as keeping a general eye put of the others. Many years ago (about 30) I took my students to the beach. They were very poor and had never seen the sea. well, some had - but many hadn't. They were older children - 12 plus. It was such a big thing for them and we cooked and brought the food along with us plus drinks. Many of them went into the water and could not swim. What a nightmare. so three teachers were in the water on shifts to watch the children. Oh, they had such a good time and all went well because we were vigilant. That poor child. totally unnecessary injuries.