And this dad’s behavior is exactly why I don’t want to have kids. I’m too fucking selfish, and I’m also too fucked up in the head with childhood drama of not having a dad around…damn it are you now my therapist lol.
I just find selfish parents as the suck…now the kid feels like shit, it’s other parents / IM’s fault they didn’t “babysit” this kid all so the dad can…wait for it…wait for it…do an 15 hour IM? Like fuck society sometimes. There’s just not a ton of reasoning, even if the supposed babysitter cancelled at the last minute…you take the DNS as a responsible adult/dad in THIS type of situation.
This is for real. I found out like 5 years after the fact that one of the parents of a girl in my 2nd grade class had gone skiing and her and her husband paid a random kid at the ski lodge counter to watch their 3 kids, and the oldest was a very special needs 11 yr old so totally NOT reliable. Of course lodge kid got bored and left, the three kids went out on their own into the woods and next thing you know it’s a helicopter search and rescue. Couldn’t believe it when I heard about it as they were perfectly normal seeming parents in an upscale neighborhood. Parenting can bring out some weird and surprising stuff especially if your kids are tough.
Depending on the maturity a 9 year old is old enough to take care of themselves without supervision. Was there an issue with the child that led to intervention?
Roth this year had a child area that kids could stay throughout the day.
Can’t imagine a safer place to be than at an Ironman. Rain probably sucked though.
Based on the articles, it sounds like the kid was minding his business the whole day with no issues. I think it was the ~10 hours of IM/volunteers seeing the kid unsupervised that finally got them to act on it, but again it took what until the afternoon for them to see the issue. I think the father was arrested close to 6pm.
Safesport which is only becoming a bigger and bigger stake holder in sports would likely consider an IM where it’s 99% adults a very “dangerous” place for a unsupervised child. Having had to do safesport the last 10 years when I coached a under 18 triathlon team, CYA almost has become the barometer of decision making, and trying to do the “right thing” by being parent helping a parent, may not be the wisest choice in our society any longer.
Yes and unfortunately it’s reality (especially at an sporting event that is regulated by sport federation that have to follow safesport compliance). Things can go sideways very very quickly in our society these days, and the reality is just being in a compromising situation could be enough to be an issue, you could literally be innocent of any actual wrong doing, but because you were “alone” with an child; that’s already guilt to some safesport policies. What if the child needs help in the bathroom? Ok so you now have to bring in other adult supervision in order to not be “alone” with said child. What if the child wants to walk to his hotel room that’s at the host hotel that is just across the street? What if he needs medication and it’s in the hotel room, etc. You would almost assuredly need other adults to go with you (you wouldn’t want to be in the elevator or in the stairwell alone with a child), etc. So I’m not trying to go all conspiracy on you, but just to showcase at a race that is likely federation sponsored and thus is a safesport signature follower, your now suddenly under a whole bunch of rules that you may not even think of, because your just being a “good person” trying to help the next parent.
Yeah, I would’ve been like, hey kiddo, if you need anything let me know. Your dad is doing great. He’s almost done with the bike and about to start the run. I volunteer during our kids swim meets and we are all Safe Sports. I help the kids all day. But there are parents that never volunteer and would rather sit on their butts and be critical of everything, from the event being crap to their kids not getting fair treatment, bla bla bla. They are the majority unfortunately.
Well, except for reading about all of the CYA institutional enablers of sex predators at US swimming, at US gymnastics, at the Boy Scouts of America, at the catholic church, at the mormon church, at the southern baptist church, at MI universities, at PA universities, at OH universities, etc.
Exactly…SOME people certainly have “lost the plot” that we need to protect and believe those people(all people who are not bullies) who may be victims of these crimes…
Really great points and I agree with all this. What’s interesting to me is that many of us latch key kids who were left to roam in the 70s and 80s became “helicopter” parents. One of my sisters did exactly that. We roamed and were left alone so much as kids. She feels it was neglect. So her parenting skills were the opposite of how she grew up. The pendulum usually swings the other direction. This is another sister (the middle sister), not the sister who has the 10 year old glued to two devices at once. I worry for both my nieces. I hope they will be successful adults. So far it’s not looking great. I hope I’m wrong.
I’m not a mother but if I was, I hope I would have been able to maintain a happy medium of both parenting styles being discussed (helicopter parenting vs let your kids roam completely free)
Thanks. I am not going to watch but here is the AI summary:
This video features an interview with Harley, a single father who was detained at Ironman Lake Placid with his son, Harley Jr. Harley explains that it was an “unfortunate misunderstanding” and expresses gratitude to Ironman and the Lake Placid police for protecting his son.
Harley, a 44-year-old from Buffalo, New York, uses Iron Man events as family vacations to teach his son discipline and perseverance. This was his sixth event for the legacy program, aiming for 12 races to qualify for Kona, Hawaii.
During the event, Harley Jr. received a VIP pass from “Miss Audra” to see his father finish. Harley encountered race complications, including a shoe issue and a bike derailer problem. After the race, a director approached him, stating they had been looking for him. Harley found his son on the VIP stage, tracking him and looking upset.
Harley raises his son to be self-sufficient. He learned that a volunteer called his son’s mother, who then called the police. Harley suspects his ex-wife escalated the situation due to an ongoing custody battle.
Harley clarifies that Ironman was not to blame and intended to give Harley Jr. an “amazing experience.” He has no regrets. Harley Jr. enjoyed being near pro athletes and cheering for Katie. Harley hopes this experience inspires his son to strive for self-improvement. He concludes by thanking the Lake Placid police, Ironman, and Miss Audra.
Amen. No way I’m watching that for 20 min. Honestly, it sounds like everybody lost in this situation. Poor kid seems to have a vindictive mom and a dad with poor judgement.
I’ve seen that “learning experience” excuse before
Dear Madam Principal,
While I appreciate your concern for our children’s education, I can promise you they learned as much in the five days we were in Boston as they would in an entire year in school.
In the 3 days of school they missed (which consisted of standardized testing that they could take any time) they learned about dedication, commitment, love, perseverance, overcoming adversity, civic pride, patriotism, American history, culinary arts and physical education.
At the marathon, they watched blind runners, runners with prosthetic limbs and debilitating diseases and people running to raise money for great causes run in the most prestigious and historic marathon in the world.
They also paid tribute to the victims of a senseless act of terrorism and learned that no matter what evil may occur, terrorists can not deter the American spirit.
These are things they won’t ever truly learn in the classroom.
These are things they WILL learn in school a year or more from now. So in actuality our children are ahead of the game. They also visited an aquarium, sampled great cuisine and spent many hours of physical activity walking and swimming.
Thank you for your time. Mike Rossi
I’ll agree that having him arrested, was a step WAY TOO FAR, no matter who called the ‘Code Red’ - especially these days, where innocent people are being snatched off the street, while real criminals are going about their business in LA (don’t tell me the LAPD don’t know where the Cartel lieutenants are, every moment, and haven’t made a single arrest/deportation, b/c that would ‘disrupt business’)
