Posted by
Ed
13 yrs ago
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/parenting/kids-on-leashes-effective-parenting-or-terribly-misguided/article4377633/
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i disagree with leashing in principle but given the many horror stories about child kidnappings in hk, I am seriously considering leashing my girl when she is old enough to run. Better to put up with stares of strangers than take the chance of losing my baby!!
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Are their really alot of kidnappings in HK??? I've never heard of this being a problem.
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I'm sure if there is a lot of kidnapping but one of my concerns is the roads in Hong Kong! Many drivers park on the footpath leaving little room to get around and at times you need to walk on the road. Driveways are another concern Hong Kong drivers don't seem to know the rules about giving way to pedestrians, they just drive straight on out with out looking. The Police just don't seem to care and they don't follow the law either! They will just drive straight out of the Police stations without giving way to the pedestrian as well. I would understand though if they were attending an incident but most of the time their not.
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It's really up to the parent. A lot depends on the kind of environment you are in. In Hong Kong, I wouldn't use a leash as it could get trapped in an escalator or lift, or trip people up. However, if I were in a less crowded area, a leash would make a lot of sense for a very small child. One thing that isn't mentioned here - and one thing you quickly learn as a parent - is those toddlers are pretty speedy. You glance away for a second, and they're gone.
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My son, we now know, has inattentive ADHD, but when he was 3, holy macaroni, that kid would run off anywhere! We could be on the 3rd floor of one of them seafood places in Sai Kung and he would take off to the ground floor and outside, all in the blink of an eye. I would be checking toilets, screaming from windows...the lot! Usually it was some kind stranger who would bring this crying, hysterical boy to an equally flustered and upset looking parent, putting two and two together.
Seriously, I had wished, at the time, I could get the little sucker chipped, you know, like they do with dogs!
I too thought, hell, we need a leash. So I took him to a shop where you buy kids clothes, toys...and lo and behold, leashes...and you know what? He may have been inattentive, he may have been only up to 8 words at 3 yrs old, being language delayed, but when he saw that leash, he knew exactly what was coming! It was one of those "strapped to your arms and chest" type ones...and the little man threw himself down on the floor and rolled and yelled and wouldn't for the life of him let us get anywhere near him with that thing! LOL.
So yeah, that was the end of our leash plans. BUT, I can see what could drive a parent to leash a kid. Still, holding a hand could be just as effective...for most kids. Lucky for me my son is now a strapping inattentive teenager, we made it to this point without a leash and WITH him running off throughout his younger years and me having to run after him. To each their own.
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I'm probaly in the minority here but I feel that leashes = lazy, inattentive parents. Hate them and would never consider leashing my child.
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Z
13 yrs ago
Bought a leash for my then 2yo when bringing her and her 9mo brother to HK for a visa run. Was going to have several days alone with the two, wanted to be able to walk around freely, knew from previous visit that pram would be more trouble than it was worth. Best thing EVER. Baby in the sling; toddler on the leash, we walked all day happily. She felt independent, I didn't worry about her getting lost in crowds or running into the road. I found that handholding worked well if we were going to be out for an hour or less, but much more than that and we both felt sticky and grumpy about it.
I've read many of these leash posts since my kids were small - there's a pretty direct correlation between city dwellers who walk a lot through crowds near busy streets and think that leases are fantabulous and suburbanites who mostly drive with kids in carseats or walk short distances with kids in prams and think that leashing kids seems cruel and lazy. Lifestyle matters, folks!
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My son was an expert escapologist at 2 years old, he could slip your hand in an instant and also refused to go in a buggy, so despite intial misgivings I decided on one of those back packs with a leash attached. I do remember a particularly horrible Expat woman deciding to give me the benefit of her unwanted and unwelcome opinion that 'he looked like a dog'. Shortly after this upsetting incident we we waiting to cross Queens Road and he slipped my hand, thankfully I had his 'harness' around my wrist as had I not he would have been under the wheels of a taxi!!!!!!!! The moral of the tale is SOME KIDS NEED HARNESSES, it saved my son's life so please don't judge those parents who use them. I didn't use one with my daughter as she is a completely different child and doesn't need it.
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I agree, it doesn't matter how well you educate your child you have no idea what is running through there mind they could just scoot out in front of a car. I'm not LAZY or INATTENTIVE, I'm careful my best friend has attended way to many accidents were a kid has ran out in front of a car and been hit as an ambulance officer. I never want her attending my kids or anyone else's kids!
Safe is way better than sorry!!!!
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I started putting my son on a leash when he was about 10 months old and learning to walk until when he was about 2 years old. Some local people gawked at us and asked why we treated our child like a dog. LOL! When the leash was no longer required, our helper asked if we could give it to her for sending to her home country for her little nieces and nephews. I see nothing wrong with putting a child on a leash. I think it's conducive to safety and takes away a lot of stress for parents and nannies.
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