4-year-old boy drowns in Fukuoka pond

I've posted this a thousand times on Japan Today in the last few years. Here it is for the 1,001st time. Parental supervision in Japan is appalling. A parent should never leave children unsupervised near water, yet this woman just goes off to buy drinks with her other daughter. And ditto for the parents on the escalator story. Parents, your children are not like pets. They need to be watched carefully at all times.

3 year olds should never be in that sitation. How old is the mother? Obviously mental age not too high. Poor kid

oh dear...how could she. how stupid is she. I have a little one I love so much. I could never leave him alone near water. Oh god...

Japan Today: His brother was rescued by a passer-by, but was dead by the time he was pulled out.

Do we call it a "rescue" if the person dies?

6-year-old brother, 6, and younger sister. Modeditors: what seems to be wrong here?

Also, how long were the two boys in the water before the passer-by came by? I think the passer-by deserves a great thanks that both boys didn't drown. And yes, I would never let me children alone near water and I can't swim.

Condolences, though, to the mother who is probably very distraught and the boy's family and friends.

This tragic incident has little to do with 'Japanese parenting' or treating children like 'pets.' For sure this lady misjudged her actions of leaving her boy, but that is irrelevant to her race or nationality. Parents all over the world make bad decisions. Kids drown and face untimely deaths all the time, little kids die all the time where I live from drowning in pool, getting hit by cars, etc. etc. Anyhow nitpicking and criticizing her now is little comfort that she lost her child. May her child rest in peace.

Very critical on here today aren't we all?, we don't know the circumstances so why get sanctimonious and jump to conclusions? 6 years old and 4 years old, these aren't babies and if playing together don't necessarily need 100% supervision, I sure didn't get it when I was that age that playing with older neighbours, he we played in the woods! think back to your youth, was your mother watching you like a hawk 100% of the time? did you play near water when you werent supposed to?

They were at a park, probably one with a playground, where the boys were most likely playing there when the mother when to get a drink, knowing japan at a vending machine. If the boys were mischieveous I am guessing they went to play near the pond (their mother maybe even told them not not too - who knows). If this mother left them at the ponds edge and went away, then yes she deserves a slap about the head, but I doubt she was that negligent.

Many ponds I know in Japan near playgrounds are fenced off, or have barriers, did the boys climb over the barrier? we don't know there are only 6 lines of text in the story, there is so much about the background that we don't know and is up for conjecture.

. Parental supervision in Japan is appalling. A parent should never leave children unsupervised near water

parental supervision all over the world can be appalling, its very easy to get critical when you live here as its the only parenting you are seeing on a daily basis, but take a good look when you go back to your home country and see the shocking parenting going on there. Some parents are great, some are terrible in every country. Water is everywhere, fenced and unfenced and mischievous kids can quickly go from a safe place to a dangerous one.

There must be same great parents on this board, and some great future parents, best of luck suprevisieng your kids like hawks their entire childhoods....