10-year-old boy drowns in Shiga pond

good reason why it was fenced off then... My heart goes out to his sister and friend.

The bigger question is, why are parents allowing their kids to wonder all over the place? Just because Japan is one of the safest countries in the world doesn't mean it's ALWAYS safe. I love kids, I'm always sad to hear about these stories, but the last few days on JT we keep hearing how these kids wind up and and I think most of these deaths could have been easily prevented with better supervision for the mot part.

bass4funkMAY. 12, 2014 - 07:37AM JST The bigger question is, why are parents allowing their kids to wonder all over the place? Just because Japan is one of the safest countries in the world doesn't mean it's ALWAYS safe. I love kids, I'm always sad to hear about these stories, but the last few days on JT we keep hearing how these kids wind up and and I think most of these deaths could have been easily prevented with better supervision for the mot part.

Seriously? You never wandered around when you were 10? That must be a lonely childhood you've got there. Apparently, kids can make lies and parents trusts. R.I.P to the kid , it was his mischievous act that failed him , not the parents.

funny how the trend is "blame the parents" It was an unfortunate accident of the kid falling into the pond. So you are telling me that your parents never let you out of the house at 10 years old to run around and play? What a sad child life.

RIP

TEACH your kids to SWIM, at an EARLY age.

I always see a lot of young kids swimming at the local YMCA, was the kid sucked into a water inlet?

Seriously? You never wandered around when you were 10?

Not really. I was always close to my parents, all of us, so they were very strict as well as cautious.

That must be a lonely childhood you've got there.

On the contrary and very quite the opposite. Our house always had a lot of kids. We have a big family and friends throughout the neighborhood, had a great childhood.

Apparently, kids can make lies and parents trusts. R.I.P to the kid , it was his mischievous act that failed him , not the parents.

I disagree.

Ten is very different than two and this clearly was an accident and I don't think we can blame the parents. RIP child.

At ten, constant parental supervision is not necessary, but he should have been taught to stay away from fenced areas, or areas when he isn't allowed to go.

Blame the parents?

I bet some of the parents' money went into that fence! You can't hold your kids' hands 24/7. If they absolutely insist on pursing danger, you will turn your back one day, and they will find it.

I would sooner blame this whole society for not teaching kids the difference between their butt and a hole in the ground. I am constantly amazed how children in Japan don't know about really basic things. I would not say non-Japanese kids never drown in circumstances like this, but the difference is other kids are doing this sort of stuff all the time and either getting themselves out of the water or being pulled out by the other kids. This was a pond, not a river or ocean.

It's always sad to see a life snuffed out so young. The cruelest thing for a parent is to outlive their own child.

That being said, while we can always make our best efforts to supervise our kids from harm (and improve on them), but unplanned events will always happen.

I don't know why this tragedy has to be blamed on anyone. The children were old enough to know what they were doing was "wrong" - going through a hole in a fenced off area to get to the pond. The fact that they could get though the fence easily makes me think they probably weren't the first kids to see it and crawl through it. On any other day, with any other kids, maybe nothing bad would have happened, but this day, the boy lost his balance and fell in. He shouldn't have been there, but it was an accident. His parents, sister and friend must be heartbroken and blame themselves, but it's not their fault.

Seriously? You never wandered around when you were 10?

Not really. I was always close to my parents, all of us, so they were very strict as well as cautious.

Always on mommy and daddy's leash, eh? Just so you know, your childhood was NOT the "norm". The overwhelming majority of 10 year olds are allowed out of their parent's sight to play and, to your amazement I'm sure, they never have any problems living to a ripe old age.

TEACH your kids to SWIM, at an EARLY age.

very true and let me add one extra point - build public pools with a DEEP end.(2m) Kids here swim in pools that are all 90-110cm deep, there is no deep end in any of them, they have no experience of deep water and "being in over your head" in all sense of the word. Treading water is a more valuable skill to save your life than swimming.

Summertime Public water parks have no deep water, no diving pools, They should all have deep water pools added to them for training purposes (they are always supervised so low risk) Many of them can actually swim quite well, but put them in deep water and they panic.

Who here grew up with town pools with deep ends and remember the feeling of trepidation of approaching the deep end before they could swim well?

Who here grew up with town pools with deep ends and remember the feeling of trepidation of approaching the deep end before they could swim well?

Absolutely! And the excitement when you wear goggles and go out there and it looks soooo far down (12 1/2 feet in my pool). I agree with what others are saying - swimming lessons are only part of the story. Kids also need to know how to tread water (impossible in a waist deep pool) and how it feels to be pushed into deep water fully clothed. This little boy was 10. Im guessing a 5 nen sei or an older 4 nen sei.. He would already have had 3-4 years of elementary school swim lessons behind him. Unless he hit his head falling in, he quite possibly would have been able to save himself had he been taught how.