2-year-old boy falls to death from 7th floor apartment in Osaka

This is sooo sad, but by the limited info in this story the child was left alone with his brother. It makes no mention of how old his brother is. It leaves one to ponder if this is another case Japanese parental negligence.

Judging from the age of the mother, his brother most likely couldn't be old enough to really look after his little brother all alone. This is simply another very sad example of totally irresponsible parents.

Where were the parents?

According to police, the boy’s father, 33, was working at the time and his mother, 26, had gone out after putting him to bed with his brother.

Well working on a sunday night at 10pm is, sadly, probably not all that uncommon. As for the mother... maybe she just went to the conbini for 5 mins to get some milk... unfortunately that is all it takes for tragedy to happen.

If she was out meeting friends or a lover, then she should spend some time behind bars.

Sat night working can mean that they run their own business/restaurant/shop/etc. Not that uncommon in japan where most shops close for a day during the week.

And I agree she might just have popped out to the combini thinking that the children were asleep.

Said that I know MANY, MANY families where kids don't go to sleep before midnight and that goes as young as 1yr old ones.

I don't really think this is so much parental negligence as just a sheer freak accident. Only 2 yrs old, the parents must be devastated.

Where were the parents?

Read the last line of the article. It says: father -working, mother - out, after putting him to bed.

Maybe he was sleepwalking?

I don't care if it was the combini to get milk, this is gross negligence at its worst. Parents should NEVER leave thier children alone! My b/f's told me about this, that parents in Japan tend to leave the little ones unsupervised. I hope the mother is put behind bars.

Love it "Gross neglicence".

Guess kids NEVER EVER get injured with their parents in the same room, area, etc you know like climbing up something and falling down while the parents is distracted for a few seconds by TV, Phone, other Kid, whatever.

All the guys that slam incidents like that, IMHO, got no understanding and of course their kids will NEVER have shinned knees, broken bones, etc as they are always supervised and protected.

Guess you also never go to the kitchen to fetch a drink or prepare a meal/snack while the kids play in the next room.

Don't give me the crap that it is different, many kids get injured and even die while being supervised.

One can put simple additional locks on sliding doors and windows (usually found at a balcony). We have 2 children, and we know these locks save us from a lot of trouble.

We also use those locks, even though they are supposed to be intruder prevention.

so with dad at work, and mom out to some unspecified place, who found the kid?

Really sad story.

time to ban high rise buildings!

wishing for the mother to be put behind bars is absurb while she still has a child to take care of. you want to punish that child as well?

a terrible accident that resulted because of not securing one's home.

Zen Builder, you never cease to amaze me. Is the word "irresponsibility" not found in the "Zen Dictionary?!"

Time to get off your high horse and meditate a little.

Being in the same room when something like this happens is one thing but not even being in the same building is quite another!

Negligence...plain and simple.

S

it's not negligence. it's an accident. i think the parents have suffered enough...

Spidey.

How about being upstairs/downstairs.

It DON'T matter accidents happen FASTER than most people can react if they 1, 5 or 10 meters away.

Honestly makes me wonder how much real-life experience some posters here got.

While I think the accident could have been prevented with the locks on the window some people mentioned earlier, it was a tragic accident not negligence.

Zen, if you think you wouldnt notice that your kid stepped out onto the 7th floor balcony, presumably after slipping past the baby gates and child safety locks that should be in place by any responsible parent, then be accountable for your own inexcusable, bad parenting.

My earlier question, "Where were the parents?," was a cynical one. With small children in the house (even those asleep), who in their right mind goes out? This case screams of negligence on the part of one (or possibly both parents). Any excuses that the mother might give ("I just popped out") don't cut it with me. Little kids are notorious for unexpectedly waking up in the middle of the night (needing consoling, etc). The parents of this child should have taken this into consideration and made sure that somebody was in the home at all times.

How can a parent to be expected to keep an eye on their kids 24/7 without fail. Tell us how we can become better parents, show me why your opinion should be above mine and others.

How can a house-wife cook lunch, clean the house, do the washing, etc without letting her kids out of her sight. Some of those activities take longer than a trip to the corner-store.

I don't justify weakness and imcompetance but there is also "human nature."

I think a distinction needs to be made between the children being "out of sight" and the "parents being out of home."

Hmm, maybe. What if she had taken a shower while it happened?

The article has very few details, like the age of the brother who might have been 7yrs and than old enough to supervise the 2yr old.

The article does not even clearly mention that the baby went through or over both or either the crib railing bars or balcony railing bars. Even if the baby went over the crib bars, a baby usually cannot go over balcony wall.

I suspect there might have been negligence on the part of the architect. I’ve seen many residential apartments in Osaka which use balcony railings that have wide gaps between the upright bars. If the architect used such wide open railing bars on the 7th floor, I think the architect should be held liable. I don’t know if this is such case. I am just guessing.

My guess would be that he slept in a futon next to his brother.

I agree many balcony rails are unsafe, seen many people thread fabric trough them to make them safer and block view from street level.

When we lived in an apartment the very first thing I did was to stretch netting along the bottom half of the balcony railings and tie it so tight that no way could such an accident occur. We had a baby at the time. I remember being angry that the standard gaps were designed large enough for a small child to slip through.

Surely any 'responsible' parent would want to do the same??? And surely there must be some way to put pressure on the designers of such balcony railings and bars. Could not the designer also be called 'irresponsible'?

Did he fall, or was he pushed?!

Some people are quick to judge and condemn others for what happens without mercy and without empathy.

Dad was working, mom ran out to pick something up. I think this happens a billion times a day world wide and once in a rare time something horrible happens. This is sad. And sure there are things that this family could have done better. But hindsight is 20/20 isn't it.

I feel sorry for the child. And for the wrecked lives of the rest of the family who will live with the loss and guilt.

I feel sorry for the child. And for the wrecked lives of the rest of the family who will live with the loss and guilt.

Exactly, and they're a young couple so they have many years of regret ahead of them.

Did he fall, or was he pushed?!

Who would push him? You sound like someone out of Detective Conan

I believe there are strict safety standards for balconies. Its more likely the balcony had things (chair, box, trash can...) the child used to climb over. I'd like to know how long the mother was out and how old the brother is.

Zen, all the things that you have mentioned, being up/downstairs, doing laundry and so on, all take place inside the home. THIS MOTHER WASN'T EVEN IN THE SAME BUILDING! A NEIGHBOR DISCOVERED THE BODY! Surely some blame has to fall on the absent mother.

S

Sick act of being irresponsible. If you are just going to the shop, take your kids with you. That would be responsible. If you are heading out to a club or meeting your friends at Mister Donut then you are negligent. The kids 2 and shouldnt be left in the house if the adult isn`t home no matter what. A no brainer. This is no accident. This is ignorance.

Spidey.

NOBODY said that the mother is blameless. But people jump on that "being out of the house" like anything and than jump on posters that DON'T slam the mother, etc.

But being out of sight and hearing inside the house is as good as being outside the house. You agree?

Lots of kids die daily in accidents with the parents "IN THE SAME BUILDING" as you put it.

In the states a child must be 12 years or older to watch a 2 year old, and a parent who leaves the house while a 2 year old isnt supervised will get charged with negligence. I dont know the law in Japan on this issue, but I would guess they dont have this type of law.

It isnt uncommon for a Jwife to run out of the house after the kids are asleep to go visit a friend, get a drink, run to Lawson, what ever. But you have to look at it this way if she was home would this of happen....

Maybe maybe not..

And I own a house in Tokyo the window bars are wide enough my 12 year old can go through them... We use screen to block them from our 2 year old.

Its an accident that might put a mother in Jail

as far as pushing him you watched the good son too much!!

The maternity hospital (in which there can reasonably be presumed to be many under-supervised kids)I frequent has ridiculous width gaps on the stair handrails, potentially allowing a child to fall 4 floors. Osaka station also has stupid gaps on the "barrier" of the bullet train platforms (a station worker came out to tell me my son was too close, after the train had pulled in)easily wide enough to cause the death of a less than perfectly restrained youngster. The death of a child at either of these places could certainly be well supervised.

Mother had gone out.?? Really?? Are you being serious???

once, when my kid was sleeping, I dashed to the comvenie to buy nappies and some juice, and left him alone but not before blocking his bedroom door and locking the front door. never run so fast and been so scared. will never do it again either. get your supplies before you put the kid down for the night. everyone makes this mistake at least once. I am sure the cops investigated and saw the possibility of an accident. I just hope it is not another infanticide case, but usually that would entail both kids and the mother making a swan dive. It seems like a very tragic accident and a painful lesson for the mother.

tkoind2 - mom ran out to pick something up.

Sorry this is an assumption. For all we know she could have been at the local pachinko parlor. However, the facts are, she is a 26 y/o mother who left an infant alone with another child who could not be any older than 8 or 9. We also don't know if he went through or over the railing. Through seems hard to accept, but it's easy to believe there was something on the balcony he used to slip over the railing.

From the facts we can conclude: The toddler was unsupervised. The balcony door was not properly secured. And, there was something on the balcony for the child to use to climb over the railing.

A very sad accident indeed, however, it should never have happened.

According to news reports, the other child is a year old. In addition, although the wall and railing of the balcony were too high for the child to reach and climb over, evidently there was a stool found near the wall of the balcony.

Because of the space between the railing and the wall below it (it was two horizontal railings on top of the walling, it is assumed the child climbed over them and while looking over the railing, tipped over and fell.

zenbuilder: But being out of sight and hearing inside the house is as good as being outside the house. You agree?

He may agree with you but I certainly don't. If you're in the house, you ought to be watching the kids as closely as possible. Kids are difficult, especially in the early years. If you're not prepared to supervise them properly then don't have them. Certainly things will happen to even the most well supervised children but when that occurs because you've turned your back for a second or the kid can do today what they couldn't do yesterday it's an accident. When it's because the child is not being supervised or has been left alone at an innapropriate age or in an innapropriate situation, that's criminal negligence. I'm truly sorry for the parents as they do have to live with the guilt forever but to be perfectly honest, they both do or at least one does have a reason to feel guilty. Being out of eye or ear shot and in the house is hardly the same as being out of the house, at least unless you have some sort of superhuman power and can get from where you are outside to inside. You're just making ridiculous attempts at defending this negligence and you know it.

And, btw, check up with "Child Protective Services" what THEY define as neglect.

Do NOT become a parent if you 'think' leaving a two year old in a house without an adult is acceptable. You're too selfish, too self-centered and therefore unable to give the care needed. In other industrialized nations you'd be arrested for abandonment and rightly bloody so!

This is my advice and I admit to being a pessimist. Always thing about the worst possible think happening then make sure it can't. I wish my Japanese wife would think more along those lines. A stool on a balcony or anything else that a kid can climb on is something that shouldn't be there. But in the end, everyone makes mistakes and is not looking for a second. If the timing is wrong, lots of us wouldn't be here. I wouldn't condemn a parent for a mistake. IF they are decent parents they will suffer enough.

As a 2-year old I was still sleeping in a cot (crib) with bars on it so that I couldn't get up and wander around, which is quite common in New Zealand, I don't know about in other countries. While accidents do also happen when parents are around to supervise, it doesn't make going out and leaving two small children any less negligent.

tragic for all the cool biz and clean smokin campaigns the govt can spend billions of yen on, they cant run a few good parent public service campaigns. massive waste of resources four simple rules to save lives 1: Don't leave your kids unsupervised. 2: Use child seats in cars. 3: Keep them close in public. 4: If you suspect they are being bullied call the principal and record the conversation.

have a kid, have some stress, need some nappies and juice, while you are learning to be a parent, semi solo or solo at that, one whole week of nothing but kid, no break...24 hours x 7 with no break and for once you forgot nappies just when your kid finally got to sleep. what do you do? wake him/her up? no way...you run to the 7/11 and back, coz you know if you wake that kid for a shop trip, that kid is not going back to sleep and you are already stretched. so you take a chance. next time you will know better but you just take this one chance...tragedy happens...I guarantee you this..every 1,000,000 times this happens a kid dies. 1 too many times is wrong and the mourning parents will agree with that, so give her a break. she may have done her very best for that kid from day one but may have been stretched beyond your gcom imagination. she just needed a few minutes and some nappies. Unfortunately a few minutes is all it took. Of course I may be wrong. she could have thrown the kid over. lets see what comes out in the wash.

tragic accident, thoughts are with the parents

****Nowadays many children survive infancy thru sheer luck. Young kids require constant attention. There are too many self-centered, hedonistic parents today. This kind of tragedy is pitiful.

Lots of people gamble. Some gamble with money. Some gamble with their children's lives. I get a rather sick feeling when I gamble with money. I imagine I would feel much worse if I was gambling with my child's life. As for Rom3's earlier story about running out for some nappies... congratulations, you won. Yer a lucky guy! Leave it at that. No need to comment on what childless elitists believe is a waste of life. Just because your child didn't end up on the pavement below, doesn't mean it is justifiable to leave your children all orusaban.

That all said. I always noticed at my local watering hole that the parents weren't too shy about bringing their kids to the bar and letting them (after they've burned off some energy annoying the rest of the patrons) fall asleep under the table. I'm sure all of the parents are completely fine to drive and all (wouldn't want to gamble on that though).

So Mom puts the boys to bed.........and then leaves?!?!? What kind of parent puts the boys to bed, and then leaves them alone in the house? It couldn't have been an emergency for Mom! VERY tragic, and unecessary indeed!!! The mother ought to be locked up for negligence....

"everyone makes this mistake at least once."

--romulus3

For the record, my parents never did this...

Sadly, this happens too frequently in Hawaii with dead-as-a-doornail results.

Even with the parent(s) present, a toddler makes it up and over on something near the railin', or he/she squeezes through the railin' itself.

USAR

romulus3, very well explained. I think a lot of posters here have never had kids.

Blue_Tiger,

how do you know?

Zen_Builder at 07:27 PM JST - 14th July

And, btw, check up with "Child Protective Services" what THEY define as neglect.

Yeah! I'll get right on that. And thanks for the laugh!

You might get a surprise that a child under your "supervision" having an "accident"(as you call it) is actually neglect too.

mother, 26, had gone out after putting him to bed with his brother.

Cardinal sin that is! how utterly ridiculous... There should be legal consequences for this surely.

the fact is, if she, as a one off, dashed to get necessary supplies, she should have at least secured the premises before hand. its hardly gonna kill a kid to be locked in their room for 10 minutes alone. but if it became her habit and she got sloppy about it, then she deserves some of the blame for the accident for sure. anyway, we know half the facts to make an accurate judgment. she may have a had a chronic migraine for all we know and went for painkillers. gonna wake up your kids when you have a migraine? no way. so we really cannot judge without knowing the full story.

zebbuilder: I don't understand. Are you simply taking a childish tit-for-tat stand now or do you actually have some example of what this surprise might entail? Face it pal, you don't leave a child alone, unsupervised in a high rise no less. Got a migraine? Call a neighbor, friend or family member to ask for help. Hungry? Order delivery. Bored? Deal with it. My parents managed to live just fine without any 7/11s or grocery stores within a 10-km radius as I'm sure did the parents of many posters here. I could almost understand dashing out if you're in a house surrounded by neighbors who you know and trust, at least one of whom has been told to keep an ear out for any crying. But on the 7th floor of an apartment building? I don't know how parents relax at all when they have kids in such high places let alone to try and justify going out and leaving them alone. I feel sorry for her but she still has reason to feel guilty, migraine or not.

If you don't understand yet than I doubt that I can make you understand.

From your posts I might assume that you haven't got kids yet yourself(correct me if wrong).

zenbuilder: From your posts I might assume that you haven't got kids yet yourself(correct me if wrong).

You are wrong and on so many levels, it boggles the mind. And if you do have kids who are still alive after you left them alone in a high rise or otherwise neglected them, then you ought to be thanking your lucky stars that you're not going to have to live with the guilt this woman will and should have for the rest of her days.

Ambrosia.

I have a lovely and healthy 7yr old son, we live on the 5th floor with a luvely roof-terrace.

Funnily enough most Millions and Millions of kids grow up in high-rises and nothing happens to them. And Many of those are left alone at one time or another.

You are over-reacting and sound exactly like someone that has read tons of books on raising kids but never done it themselves.

Not need to count　my　Lucky　Stars as my son has been trained and taught from a very young age what he can do and what he can't.

Anyhow have a good day.

today, outside my high rise apartment were some mothers gossiping. two had child monitors on there buckles. I went away for 30 minutes and came back home. they were still there. Been no sirens or ambulances thus far. Didn't see no smashed toddler bodies in the car park neither. people are over reacting on this post. if you must, you can leave your child for a few minutes. lock the kid in his/her room. make sure its a safe environment.

I bet the same posters bleating that "if a child is screaming just leave them alone and take a break but don't kill the kid" are here right now saying never leave a kid alone. Hypocrisy.

romulus3 - Because my parents aren't stupid....

Blue Tiger - LOL! To me, that simply and clearly sums up difference between parents who DO and who do NOT leave their small children home alone: STUPIDITY.

Absolute worthless parenting. Yes, there SHOULD be legal consequences. Operative word: SHOULD. But sadly here in Japan, this kind of thing doesn't even register on the illegal scale. It's considered to be a twist of "atarimae" and "shikata ga nai".

"Secure the place and lock the door" and it's "okay"? It only takes a spark to start a fire.

"What if the mom was just in another room? Would it be her fault then?" Feeble justification. I'd bet the farm this poor kid woke up and was looking FOR his mom. And I am almost equally sure he first went room to room to find her. Unfortunately, she was "out".

I have a 4 year old son and we live on the 10 floor here in Japan. I, have never left him alone - and neither has my wife.

How do I know?

Because she isn't stupid.

Japanese mothers seem to be too careless when it comes to their children......WTF. I stopped two kids from becoming road pizza recently cause their mother was not paying attention.

Well, when you are the only adult taking care of the kids 24 hours, taking out the trash, hanging the laundry and unhanging the laundry, doing the shopping, doing the cooking, feeding, bathing, nursing and supervising the kids, cleaning up, washing the dishes day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, you are bound to make a mistake or two that could be downright deadly to your child.

The reality is that Japanese mothers have it tough. We do NOT have the right to judge them, but frankly pitty them and empthize with them. I am a mother of a 3 year old and am pregnant and let me tell you, I get so tired I can hardly stand up sometimes and yea, I sometimes have to OH MY GOD..SLEEEP while I am ALONE with my child, thus leaving her unsupervised!!!! Even if she was sleeping, she could get up, unlock the balcony door and do god only knows what. She has unlocked the door and gotten out of the house a few times on her own and thankfully I have woken up just in time. She did fall down the stairs once. Sorry...I know I am a horrible mother. God forbid I should fall asleep on the job!

Orangeporange

She wasn't asleep. She LEFT the apartment. If you have to sleep, you have to sleep. That does not make you a mad mother.

If you leave your children (2 year old!!!) alone, you are.