Quote Originally Posted by Cataholic View Post
Someone said something about how no one would do something like this (duct tape) simply because they saw a picture of something like this (duct tape). I was merely suggesting that we should never underestimate the stupidity of people. Someone thought it was an appropriate punishment to duct tape a child's appendages, put them in a dog crate, and drip water on them. To me, punishment or not, that is stupidity.

I love practical jokes. I am the joker of the office. Duct taping a child to a wall as a joke or as a punishment or as a way to say, "I can do this" seems like a bad choice to me.

It reminds me of the late Michael Jackson, and his mistake of dangling his baby over a ledge/from a window. I don't doubt for a moment he didn't intend to place his child in danger. I don't doubt for a moment he thought of the public's perception of it. I think he made a poor choice. I have made plenty of them myself. I do go out of my way to limit them, and I would certainly never broadcast them on the internet.

I disagree with people that say this won't lead to someone else doing it. I think when we are exposed to photos like these, we lose a bit of the "what was she thinking" reaction. We see things (not just this photo) over and over again, and we become de-sensitized to them. That is what I think photos like these can do. De-sensitize us to conduct, and push the bounds of conduct. Eventually, it gets out of hand. It's 'ok' to do this to a child, and look, there is a stuffed animal in the picture, so we know it is all in good fun. Let's see if we can do it for 30 minutes. Wait! Let's see if she eventually falls asleep.

Watch the news, stupid stuff -that begins innocently enough- gets out of hand all the time. Why is locking a child in a dog crate any different than placing the child in a play pen? Because it seems wrong. We can't articulate it fully, but it just seems worse. That is how I see this picture. Was the baby harmed? I don't think so. Did it take 2 minutes to do this (which is kinda hard to believe), and did they immediately take the baby down? Maybe. It still just seems wrong.

Thank you Johanna. You hit the nail on the head. Take a bow.

Maybe I should shut my mouth, but why start now................

I find it pathetic that people are up in arms over a comment made by a CT mayor, in which he said "I might eat tacos", when asked how he would support the Latino community, yet people (in general-not referring to any posters here), find that pics of kids being bound in various ways with duct tape is funny, and they are posting them all over the internet. What's wrong with that scenario?
I found what the mayor said as rather funny, and it certainly didn't imply or suggest, any physical harm or abuse. Yet people are outraged by his statement. Why aren't people outraged by these pictures, and why do so many people find them funny??? I'm Italian, and if someone said they might eat pizza in support of the Italian community, I would laugh at that too!!! I still find nothing to laugh at in those pictures.

OMG - where is this country of ours headed???