I was horrified to wake up this morning to the news about the Dark Knight Rises shooting in Denver. I grew up in Aurora and used to get my Hello Kitty fix at that same mall. But the most heartbreaking part of this story, to me, is that there were children at that theater.
Among the reports was this shocking detail: The youngest person injured was a 4-month-old baby. OMG! Thankfully it turns out that may have been a FALSE report. I'm hearing that the baby was not injured, just taken to the hospital, treated, and released.
Meanwhile someone on my Facebook stream said she was baffled as to why there would be a 4-month-old at a midnight movie. Are we really doing that already -- judging the parents who brought that baby?
It's not what I ever did, but it's pretty common. Parents sometimes bring their babies to the movies. If you happen to have a heavy sleeper (and your baby would have to be a really heavy sleeper to make it through a loud action movie like Dark Knight), it just makes sense to bring the baby with you and let her sleep rather than paying for a sitter. Hopefully if the baby wakes, you're considerate of the other audience members and you step outside the theater. But anyway, most 4-month-old babies are not exactly on the kind of bedtime schedule school-aged kids get on. Who cares what time they're up?
More from The Stir: Shooting at 'Dark Knight Rises' Midnight Premiere Kills At Least a Dozen People (VIDEO)
But worse than that, this is just an incredibly insensitive time to be wagging disapproving fingers at the parents of children who were in that theater. Apparently there were other kids there. And so what? When a parent weighs the risk of taking their kids to a midnight movie, they're not considering the possibility that there might be a shooter there! It's summer. School is not in session.
Parents of kids who were in the theater last night need our support and compassion right now. Not our judgment.
**Update on baby** Jamie Rohrs describes how he felt holding his baby, Ethan, as James Holmes opened fire on the audience.
Have you ever taken a baby to the movies late at night?
Image via Elizabeth/Table45/Flickr
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Comments 458
Seriously, who CARES if they took their baby? Hello SO NOT THE FREAKING POINT!
My first movie was Ghostbusters. My parents took me because they couldn't find a sitter, I was 5 months old and asleep in the carseat...There's no reason why it can't work. I think it's rude and incredibly inconsiderate especially considering the context and what's going on. Have some compassion people. Instead of going off on these people, how about taking that time to send out some prayers for the people that WERE injured and the families of the people who were killed!
I agree. Newbors sleep 14+ hours a day. Mom needs to get out, but needs to be with her baby. As long as the baby stays asleep, and the mother gets a reprieve, who cares? Obviously if anyone thought there was going to be a shooting NO ONE would have showed up. Turns those fingers back on yourselves, Judgmental Judies.
You paid to see a movie. Those parents have no obligation to you and can bring whoever the hell they want with them. Kids should be in bed, sure, but how do you know they DON'T have a scheduled bedtime and their parents just let them stay up this ONE TIME to see a batman movie? And babies as young as four months sleep through anything. In fact, in the book my pediatrician gave me, it said there's no need to be extra quiet when babies so young are sleeping because they usually just block out noise.
There are a few different conversations going on here.
1) Should people take their babies to the movies this late? It wasn't something I would have done, but I am far, far, far more disturbed by people who would take a child under 15 to see this than a child who is asleep and unable to understand what they're seeing. DK movies are terrifying and violent. That's a parenting decision I have a hard time with.
2) Should parents take babies or young children to movies at all if they might be disruptive? If it's a kid-friendly movie I think a parent has to be willing to leave if their child starts crying or misbehaving. If it's not a kid movie I think they do need to wait to see it. It does seem a bit selfish.
3) Should the parents in this case be judged? Absolutely not. What happened was tragic and beyond anyone's control. My heart goes out to everyone there.