Breakdancer vs. toddler. This is a timely reminder, coming into the busy Christmas shopping season in malls. Other people are not responsible for your child not getting hurt, not in restaurants, not in malls, not on the street. YOU are responsible for that.
I take it you have not escorted a three-year old.
A kid can easily break away from a parent for a couple of seconds, and that is all it takes to get hurt.
I expect other people to take reasonable care, as I would expect parents to take reasonable care. The thought that others have no responsibility for others does not sit well with me or seem at all reasonable.
That video’s been around for a long time.
I suspect that the toddler was not seriously hurt. However, if you breakdancing, you too have a responsibility to make sure no one is there when you suddenly jump backwards.
wow, that was impressive! i’m pretty sure that kid was in orbit for a few seconds.
That video is awesome if you can look past the fact that the kid got the shit kicked out of her.
Not knowing the situation, I won’t place blame. You simply don’t expect your kid to run out in front of someone who is dancing. One second the kid is staying put watching the show, the next she’s getting kicked in the neck. You can’t protect your kid from every danger nor can you anticipate her every move. Sometimes it’s just an accident.
That looked like a no-fault situation to me. The breakdancer couldn’t have known that a kid would run right into his path, and the kid pretty obviously broke free of the parent and darted away, based on the parent’s reaction. Sometimes crap just happens.
Especially if you’re doing it on a subway car. (Yes, I saw a bunch of guys do this on the subway once–no one got hurt, but it was kind of a wtf moment, since if you want to walk around on a subway car, you can’t really do that so easily as in a huge public setting…)
That was so awesome the way the kid spun off into space after getting kicked. I love it! 
Huh? There was what looked like a ten foot circle around him. He can’t look over his shoulder the whole time.
I did that once, well sort of, I was playing hackey sack at a park and some kid kept moving up close while we were playing. his dad told him about 8 times to move back but he kept moving closer after backing off. at some point he wandered off (I thought) and the bag went over my head so I did a sort of spinning back kick thing and nailed the kid in the head.
fortunately I was wearing Boots so my foot was ok.
People complain when I let them roam free, people complain when I keep them in cages. What am I supposed to do?
This doesn’t have anything to do with The Dog That Ate Some Of The Evil, does it? 
When my children were this age they had harnesses and leashes. These were not those flimsy velcro wrist things either - they zipped up like a vest. If we were out in crowds and they were not in a stroller, they had a leash. Did I care if people looked at me oddly or made snide remarks? Hell no. My kids had more room than if I held their hand all the time (which is impossible anyway). I had them under control at all times. They did not get lost or abducted and did NOT grow up with some psychological complex for being leashed like a dog.
I don’t think the breakdancer was in anyway at fault. He clearly had a circle of space around him and he wasn’t being careless.
If I was standing in a circle watching some guys break dance, I would make sure my toddler was under control. And yes, I have a child and I know that is can be difficult it can be to keep an eye on them, but not that difficult.
I used to laugh at people in malls who had their kids on leashes. Now I don’t.
Too bad for the kid. I’m not willing to fault anybody in this situation.
My only fear would be that the parent then dragged this to court, sued for medical costs, emotional suffering, etc. If so, I hope the breakdancer countersued for crimes against intelligence and won some punitive damages. Oh, and that judge and jury were laughing and pointing at the parent(s) until they started crying.
When I was a kid, I wanted to be on a leash–after all, there were all those kidnappers and break dancers out to get me. Now I’m 35, and I wear a leash just for the nostalgia.
Ah, where’s freekalette when we need her?
I’d like to speak out as a mother of a 3 year old who has not seen the video.
My daughter routinely leashes herself and pretends to be a dog. We got a kitten yesterday and my daughter wedged herself into the cat carrier. When I put together the wire cage (small cat, toddler, 2 dogs, someone has to be safe) my daugher kept getting inside it and asking me to lock the door. Of course, she also made sure she did this right in front of the big picture window so that CPS could have a great view of my caged child.
I guess I shouldn’t mention she spent most of the yard sale day running around with lampshades on her head. (Honey, you are supposed to do that when you are drunk and in college.)