Sometimes the worst stories have happy endings that still don't make us feel any better, and the story of the 7-year-old boy who was thrown off a cruise ship by his own father is one of those for me.
The boy was on a day cruise with his family in California when he started acting up. The father, Sloane Briles, 35, was arrested after hitting his son and throwing him off the boat in front of a crowd of people. He told him he needed to "toughen up." The child, who wasn't a strong swimmer, was saved by a life belt, but his father did jump in after him.
The fall was only five feet and the father did jump in after him, but it's still completely inexcusable. Charlie Maas, who oversees the tour company, told the AP:
Right in the middle of a sunny weekend afternoon in August, there is a lot of boat traffic out there. That could have been fatally dangerous.
Even if the kid were a swimmer with Olympic potential, what he did was wrong, cruel, and really quite terrifying.
This summer, my 3-year-old son was in a life vest and was wading in shallow water when he suddenly went in face first. It was only 10 seconds at most between the time when I saw him and when my husband got to him. He hadn't even inhaled water. But those seconds live in my brain like they were 10 minutes. For weeks after, I had nightmares where we couldn't get to him and I woke in a panic.
There is no doubt that my biggest fear in the world is my children drowning. I can't think of a more scary way to lose them or one in which I could be filled with more guilt. Since our scary incident, my son has been in swim lessons twice a week and he is making major strides toward becoming a swimmer.
It's hard for me to imagine this boy's mother (who wasn't on the boat with the father and his girlfriend). If I were her, I would never want my son to see his father again. The fact is, every day when we're outside, we take risks. Our kids go to the park and they're at risk for falls, scrapes, bruises, and lord knows what else. Some risks are worth taking while others aren't.
Throwing a child off a moving boat isn't a risk worth taking. This father gambled with his son's life, and sure, he did the right thing by jumping in later, but so what? He can't be trusted to know right from wrong around his kids.
Do you think he should be allowed to see his kids?
Image via frostnova/Flickr
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Comments 57
All rights should be stripped. A wise man once told me there is a difference between fathers and daddys. A father provides the sperm to create the child and that is about it, but a daddy is a man who is there for his children and raises them with love. This man is a father, not a daddy and should have no rights what so ever. (I actually have one of each and guess which one I go to for advice....)
Wendy Green... um NO i dont want to reevaluate my comments because your opinion of the situation is maybe a little different than mine (wouldnt know because you didnt even weigh in your opinion you just trashed mine instead.)
Did I say it was a funny joke. No, in fact, I said I dont find it particularly funny. BUT I DO still think that this was meant as a joke by the father. Just because the article said he hit the boy several times. How do you all know he wasnt messing around fake slapping the kid in the gut or something. (not with force, playfully). We ONLY know one side to this story because the father and even the mother herself were unavailable for comment. All Im trying to say is that with every little story on The Stir the commenters automatically go into lynch-mob mode, rather than taking into account that there is another possible side to this story. All Im saying is that I dont think the father Maliciously struck his child in front of 85 people and threw him off the boat to try to harm or kill him.
@hutchfam - i totally got your first comment, and your follow up. i actually agree with you.
for those jumping on the 'fry him' train... do you not think that alcohol could be a factor? how many times have you seen big drunk guys roughhousing each other and play fighting and the whatnot? i'm not excusing his actions AT ALL - i think he made a stupid, stupid mistake and that he should pay for it with supervised court visitations and therapy. (neither of which i think he'll bother with, if you read his background on the original story.) i have heard fathers (and even mothers!) tell their little boys "oh be tough!" or "oh it's just a little scratch, you'll be fine.." etc. i'm not saying this is really right either... we weren't there, and we don't know. (and as someone else mentioned, i'm also in CA and didn't hear of this, yet it hit the NY times... crazy how info travels and is deemed 'news worthy' or not).
@hutchfam2007- no body is going into lynch-mob mode. until now. you are an idiot. what parent in their right mind would think that it is acceptable, in ANY SENSE, under ANY CIRCUMSTANCE, PERIOD to toss their kid overboard? apparently you do. gah, Im gonna say a prayer tonight, for this little boy, and for your kids. Heaven help them.
Seriously Mrs.SarahM, Im an idiot because I stated there could be two sides of the story? Im an idiot because I said this father could have been joking with his son (IN HIS MIND)? Just like Dirtiekittie said, males tent to rough-house. SO because I said that I dont think this father was Maliciously hitting his child or was not intending to harm his child when he did this IN front of 85 other people, You feel like you need to pray for MY kids!?!! You just took your comment WAAAAAAAY too far.
reading stories like this make me wish i could just carry a cattle prod around with me on a daily basis to let people like this know exactly how i feel about them. a joke? people actually are saying that? this is absolutely no joking matter. if this man "jokes" like that in public with an audience, what on earth is he doing in the privacy of his own home. not only should he have his parental rights revoked, that stupid girlfriend of his should run away as ast as she can!
The boy is also mentally disabled. The dad was drinking. And he threw the little boy off, and did not jump iafter hiuntil aother boat had picked him up.
Not funny, not a joke. Horrible.
This guy is a total idiot and shouldn't have kids. What the hell is wrong with him. I feel bad for this little boy having to deal with a "tough guy" attitude from his dad probably from the time he could walk. So sad :(
There are a couple abusers in denial in these answers....