# Whatever happened to children first?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [August 12, 2013, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070 "2013-08-12T20:40:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/21 "2013-08-14T13:04:26Z")
> [@WhyNot](#):
>
> Reported with a request for fora change to Cafe Society. š
Using the plural because Cafe Society is more than one forum over, I assume. :dubious:
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/22 "2013-08-14T13:09:31Z")
Moved MPSIMS to Cafe Society.
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### Author:  [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/23 "2013-08-14T15:33:12Z")
> [@scootergirl](#):
>
> GASP! You evil evil dopers, you! :eek:. š
>
> This thread reminds of something I witnessed as a kid. I was walking down the street with my dad and step mother. A dog came barking and charging out of a yard running straight towards the three of us. My dad in a panic grabs his wife by the shoulders and positions her in front of him using her as a shield from the vicious mutt.
> I made a mental note that day: In case of an emergency - donāt count on dad. He may be a coward.
> My god was she pissed off at himā¦for days, if I remember correctly.
In retrospect, was the dog obviously not a real threat and your dad was just playing around? Otherwise :eek:
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/24 "2013-08-14T16:05:31Z")
> [@epbrown01](#):
>
> Thereās nothing more touching than seeing a rescuer hand off an endangered child to a grateful parent, but Iām always left wondering āEr, why are you safely outside the burning building/car/danger zone while your kid was left behind to fend for him/herself?ā Jumping around on Netflix this weekend I saw this about 6 times.
>
> Then thereās the classic āLet me back in there! My kidās are still inside!ā after carefully ensuring there are enough unoccupied people to stop you actually having to do it. After all, the first responders had to respond - youāve been outside alone for who knows how long before they got there, not noticing your kid isnāt with you.
>
> Iād hate to be a kid in the Marvel or DC Universes. āHey, Mom! Do you smell smoke? ā¦Mom?ā
Now that weāve established that the OP is talking about fictional situations, the answer isā¦because having a rescuer makes for more dramatic tension, and makes for a better story. Sometimes a story demands that a favorite character be put into danger, or even get killed off. In a superhero universe, then innocents MUST be put into danger, there must be Evil Villains with Plans of World Domination (or, alternately, Plans to Exterminate the Human Race), precisely so that the hero can come in and save the day, with a shining smile and modest disclaimer. Without the tension, there is no story.
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### Author:  [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/25 "2013-08-14T17:54:54Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> Now that weāve established that the OP is talking about fictional situations, the answer isā¦because having a rescuer makes for more dramatic tension, and makes for a better story. Sometimes a story demands that a favorite character be put into danger, or even get killed off. In a superhero universe, then innocents MUST be put into danger, there must be Evil Villains with Plans of World Domination (or, alternately, Plans to Exterminate the Human Race), precisely so that the hero can come in and save the day, with a shining smile and modest disclaimer. Without the tension, there is no story.
True, but my point was so many comic books (and the cartoons and movies based on them) create this tension at the expense of the parents looking callous, cowardly or incompetent. It struck me as being an unidentified trope.
Probably a peeve of mine. One of my biggest issues with \*The Walking Dead \* and other dystopian shows is the casual parental neglect of the kids. They create a world of constant danger, then write people parenting like they live in Mayberry. In a world swimming in zombies or marauding bands or whatever, people should not constantly be wondering aloud āHey, whereās Carl?ā or whoever. :rolleyes:
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### Author:  [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/26 "2013-08-14T17:58:32Z")
Many comic books suffer from bad writing. Some comics have wonderful writing, donāt get me wrong. But with many comics, the writers have very short deadlines and they are more concerned about meeting deadlines than using a trope. Heck, for that matter, a lot of print writers will use the same damned themes over and over in their stories.
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### Author:  [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/27 "2013-08-14T18:55:02Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#):
>
> Now that weāve established that the OP is talking about fictional situations, the answer isā¦because having a rescuer makes for more dramatic tension, and makes for a better story. Sometimes a story demands that a favorite character be put into danger, or even get killed off. In a superhero universe, then innocents MUST be put into danger, there must be Evil Villains with Plans of World Domination (or, alternately, Plans to Exterminate the Human Race), precisely so that the hero can come in and save the day, with a shining smile and modest disclaimer. Without the tension, there is no story.
āDawnās in troubleā¦must be Tuesday.ā -Buffy
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### Author:  [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/28 "2013-08-14T19:01:24Z")
> [@epbrown01](#):
>
> Yeah, but there were forcibly removed by the firefighters. The truck didnāt pull up to find them outside at the curb likeā¦
>
> āThanks goodness you guys are here! My kids are still inside, theyāre sleeping in the two rear bedrooms! I didnāt have time to get them before the fire spread!ā
>
> āThanks, maāam, weāll take it from here! So, you were still awake yourself? Because youāre fully dressedā¦ā
>
> āI couldnāt run out in my nightgown!ā
>
> āā¦and the bag was already packed?ā
>
> āExcuse me, my Vera Wang is not insured, I couldnāt leave it!ā
>
> āWhereād you get the Starbucks at this hour?ā
>
> āOh, the one at North Avenue is open 24 hours, so I ran over while I waited for you guysā¦ā
>
> āThe two rear bedrooms?ā
>
> āYes, please, you have to save my babies!!ā
>
> I mean, cāmon, the self-sacrificing parent is a standard of fiction. Letās face it, James and Lilly Potter were actually kind of jerks, as we learned in the later books. Their sole redeeming quality was they died protecting Harry. Imagine the series if James died and Lilly disappeared that night, turning up teaching at Beaubattons in _Goblet of Fire_. āWell, when Voldemort burst in and killed your father, I ran to get help. I mean, worldās most powerful wizard, I knew I couldnāt take him. As I was going down the drive, I saw this flash of green light in the nursery window and figured you were dead too, so I scarpered. Fled the country and took a job teaching abroad. I was really broken up about it, though. Glad it worked out for you. Him? Well, I guess thatās your step-dad, Jean-Pierre. Yes, heās a _bit_ younger - we met when he was my personal trainerā¦ Jean-Pierre! Come meet my son Garry!ā
You, I like.
You can stay. š
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### Author:  [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/29 "2013-08-14T19:47:17Z")
> [@scootergirl](#):
>
> GASP! You evil evil dopers, you! :eek:. š
>
> This thread reminds of something I witnessed as a kid. I was walking down the street with my dad and step mother. A dog came barking and charging out of a yard running straight towards the three of us. My dad in a panic grabs his wife by the shoulders and positions her in front of him using her as a shield from the vicious mutt.
> I made a mental note that day: In case of an emergency - donāt count on dad. He may be a coward.
> My god was she pissed off at himā¦for days, if I remember correctly.
Too be fair, she was your _step_-mom. He had already learned that she was fungible. š
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### Author:  [@Red\_Barchetta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Red_Barchetta)
#### Post date: [August 14, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/30 "2013-08-14T21:27:56Z")
> [@scootergirl](#):
>
> This thread reminds of something I witnessed as a kid. I was walking down the street with my dad and step mother. A dog came barking and charging out of a yard running straight towards the three of us. My dad in a panic grabs his wife by the shoulders and positions her in front of him using her as a shield from the vicious mutt.
There was actually an episode of Fraiser about thisā¦and the person took it about the same way š
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### Author:  [@Washoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washoe)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2013, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/31 "2013-08-15T01:46:17Z")
> [@scootergirl](#):
>
> I made a mental note that day: In case of an emergency - donāt count on dad. He may be a coward.
Reminds me of the time I flat-out refused to crawl under the house and take on 20 pounds of snarling mommy raccoon that had squatted down there with her two cute-as-a-button babies. I called animal control instead. Mrs. Washoe didnāt let me hear the end of it for days.
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### Author:  [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)
#### Post date: [August 15, 2013, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/32 "2013-08-15T05:22:58Z")
Well maybe she just went out to get a cold pop. [Aināt nobody got time for that](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh7UgAprdpM).
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### Author:  [@scootergirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scootergirl)
#### Post date: [August 16, 2013, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whatever-happened-to-children-first/666070/33 "2013-08-16T03:57:18Z")
> [@scootergirl](#):
>
> This thread reminds of something I witnessed as a kid. I was walking down the street with my dad and step mother. A dog came barking and charging out of a yard running straight towards the three of us. My dad in a panic grabs his wife by the shoulders and positions her in front of him using her as a shield from the vicious mutt.
> I made a mental note that day: In case of an emergency - donāt count on dad. He may be a coward.
> My god was she pissed off at himā¦for days, if I remember correctly.
> [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](#):
>
> In retrospect, was the dog obviously not a real threat and your dad was just playing around? Otherwise :eek:
Nope. He wasnāt playing around. I was 11 years old and could tell from the fear in my dadās face that it was a spontaneous non-thinking reaction. Iām sure he regretted it immediately. She was pretty upset. This was in BogotĆ”, Colombia. There were many hungry stray dogs running around. This dog may have belonged to someone, or not.
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