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Comment by stragies | Hacker News Reader

Don't at least the parents of the kid that drowned in your pool while trespassing on your land get at least a charge of "criminal negligence" against them? IANAL, but aren't kid's <14 supposed to be supervised at all times by an adult? And 14+ years old that drowns in a pool for inability to swim is also something that should be blamable on the parents, not the pool owner.

Edit with clarifications after comments: I meant, parent's should be supervising their young kids, or take the risk/blame, if something happens to the kids while they aren't.

(I roamed 'unsupervised' in fields and forest at young age with friends, and enjoyed it. But I was also taught to look where I step, and how to swim)

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> aren't kid's <14 supposed to be supervised at all times by an adult

Hell no. A world where a nine or ten year old can’t go roam the neighborhood on bikes with some friends unless adults accompany them would be a dystopia. I know there are occasionally news stories about very-stupid harassment of parents for parenting correctly, but thank god it’s still not the norm.

No, the negligent parents get rewarded with your house and assets.

Kids should not be supervised at all times, but parents should also assume the risk for what happens when they aren't supervising their kids.

Managing risk-reward is a natural part of life and being an adult.

Attempts to completely eliminate risk leads to miserable lives and societies.

> Attempts to completely eliminate risk leads to miserable lives and societies.

Covid response in certain jurisdictions was a great example of this. "If it saves even one more life, it's worth it!"

> IANAL, but aren't kid's <14 supposed to be supervised at all times by an adult?

Not in most jurisdictions (thanks God). That's a terrible idea for raising kids.

Being a parent is hard. I would say that half of the US thinks parents are the problem with kids these days and that a good kid should "spend time outside in the neighborhood like we used to", and then the other half will call the police if your child is out of sight because "aren't kid's <14 supposed to be supervised at all times by an adult?"

> but aren't kid's <14 supposed to be supervised at all times by an adult

No. The age which supervision is required varies by jurisdiction.

> And 14+ years old that drowns in a pool for inability to swim is also something that should be blamable on the parents, not the pool owner.

There's no law stating you need to teach your kids to swim.

In the US a criminal charge against someone is not relevant for a civil liability lawsuit.

Civil suits are between citizens. Criminal suits generally have the plaintiff as the state government, albeit with rare exceptions such as RICO.

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