Say What!?
Parents Take 5-Year-Old Daughter Swimming With Sharks (VIDEO)
If swimming with sharks sounds like your kind of vacation activity, congratulations. You're officially a lot braver than me. Now for the big question: would you bring your 5-year-old daughter along?
The parents of 5-year-old Anaia did. And they actually let her swim off without them, bobbing in the water with an instructor from the shark swim adventure company and, of course, the sharks. I guess that makes them braver than me too. But does it make them crazy?
It just might. Here, take a look at the little girl swimming with the dangerous sea creatures:
We have a happy story because little Anaia is fine, better than fine even. She had fun! She didn't get hurt!
Her parents Elana and David come off as pretty cool in an interview with RightThisMinute, where they explain how they let their daughter swim off with the instructor and a red buoy. As Anaia says, she wasn't scared because her Mommy told her not to be: that's something we all hope to instill in our kids.
So for a second there, you're thinking, well, at least they're not helicopter parents! They don't make their kid afraid of everything! Free range for the win!
But as much as I want to congratulate them, I just can't see following them into the water with my little girl. I couldn't help watching this video, and then the interview, and thinking what the reaction would have been if the ending was different. If Anaia had been hurt doing something so obviously unnecessary and potentially dangerous, parents the world over would be castigating them for their lack of common sense. No one would be saying "oh cool." And the fact that they let her go off with an instructor would be viewed as cold and uncaring.
Ever notice that a lot of the planning of a family vacation involves scheduling a lot of stuff that will thrill your kid and bore you to tears? Welcome to parenting. We skip out on a lot of really awesome adult activities when we have kids because we choose to have kids. It's not their fault. It's ours!
So what does that say about the 5-year-old who swam with sharks? Honestly? It's cool, but it's at least a little crazy.
What do you think of letting a 5-year-old swim with sharks?
Image via ElanaJoy86/YouTube
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HomebirthFTW
Manchester
banana-bear
They are effing idiots! I'm sorry but you CAN do fun, not-so-boring things with your kids on vacation WITHOUT putting their lives in danger.
butterflyfreak
And it's sad to me that this had a happy ending and yet you STILL judge them! I think it's awesome that they did this. It's not something that I would personally do, sharks give me the heebie-jeebies. But we took our daughter (just turned 4) on an overnight white water rafting trip and I know some people that I was crazy to take my daughter when she was so young. But my daughter had a BLAST and has been talking about it all year long! I think it's a good idea to plan your vacation so that the kids AND adults have a good time! I'm sorry, I just don't think people should center their whole vacation around the kids. We don't plan out a bunch of activities when we go. More like an outline, "these are the things we'd like to do, if we get to it." For us, family vacations is about relaxing and enjoying our time together, not running around trying to take in all the "kid-spots" so that our daughter is entertained while we are bored out of our minds.
the4mutts
I am not afraid of them, or any sharks.
That being said, it depends on what kind of sharks, if a child should be allowed. I couldn't watch th video on my phone, but some sharks don't even have teeth big enough to bite people and do damage. In that case, no big deal, as there would be next to NO danger to anyone.
BUT, if these are big tooth sharks, then the parents are morons!
Sharks are wild animals and should be treated as such. They're not a novelty pet for children to play with.
AmandaSnyder
She was completely safe she had in instructor with her and he or she knedw what they were doing you all need to relax. As for me if there is a cage involved then sure yeah I'd let me boys in there when they are old enough.
Maevelyn
It depends on the type of shark and how it was drawn in. I don't think it's crazy, particularly if she's a good swimmer. I'm not sure I would do it (or even think to do it) but I can think of more dangerous stuff that people do all the time. Every activity has a certain level of inherit danger, in fact any time you're near water you're biggest risk is drowning. lol here in Florida when ever a gator is spotted some one is always on the news saying how they are afraid their kid will get bit or eaten. Sorry, but if your kid is close enough to the water to get bit by a gator the gator is not the biggest danger.
Sam
EJY86
I am the poster of this original video, and mom to Anaia. There are a few things I would like to clarify.
1: I see how it could have been misinterpreted from my interview, but we did not just send her off with the instructor, "See ya later hunny!" NO. My husband was feet away from her (videoing), and I was close behind... plus we were with about 40 other snorkelers from the group.
2: It's hard to understand her, but she said that she wasn't afraid because "Her BODY told her not to be." I would never force her to do something she wasn't comfortable with, I respect her internal compass. I suppose that is how she explained that she felt relaxed.
Those are the main things, other than that, I am happy for other people to have an opinion, I just wanted to make sure the facts were straight. I'd like to thank some of the commenters for your support, and yes, there are clips that are pasted together. When we were swimming, we never were closer than 25 feet from any sharks. :)
allurasmamma
I am Just not sure about that.