"Escalator Parenting"

Yes, I am talking about the real escalator, not in a metaphorical way. The ones in the shopping malls to be exact. Of course, to the seasoned escalator riders, they look pretty safe and harmless. Except for my mum of course. She hates riding escalators. She rather takes lifts or the stairs. She thinks escalators are devil devices which are going to swallow anything from shoes, slippers, skirts and even human! Such is her aversions for escalators!

Well, to be fair, I believe that my mum has a valid point.  There are some cases involving escalator mishaps.  Little kids' foot get caught between the steps/comb plate of escalators, people injured when the escalator they were riding down suddenly accelerated and they fell or were thrown at the bottom of the escalator, bits of clothes getting caught in the comb plates and etc. Personally, I believe that escalators are danger to small kids. 


There's one incident that left me furious! This happened like a few days ago. I was riding up this escalator and several steps in front of me there was this woman with her kid.  The kid's around 3 or 4 years old and he was standing and swaying in his short little legs. It might be because he had the difficulty of balancing his legs with the movement of the escalator.  The mother was oblivious of the kid's struggle and was busy talking on the phone. She did hold her son's hand but loosely! Suddenly, the kid  rocked front and back, left hand flailing and  fell down on the step. The mother kept on chatting away on the phone. The kid managed to pick himself up  but fell down again, for the second time, hitting the step knees first. This time around, the mother did noticed. Noticed reeeaaal good. What she did next was completely unbelievable. I was aghast, so did other people behind me.  She yanked up the kid's hand forcefully and  furiously slapped his right cheek, twice! Berating the kid for being naughty. The smacking sounds from the slapping was pretty loud that it made me wince.  I think, she's more furious because he had interrupted her phone chat. The kid yelped once but didn't cry. I have to say, witnessing such disgusting acts had left me with a bitter taste in my mouth. What kind of parents who care more for their phone chats than the safety of their small children while riding the escalator? Don't they realized that escalator is hazardous to small children? Such negligence is unacceptable.

Parents should supervise and pay attention closely when riding escalators with small children in tow. They should hold their child's hand tightly or even better pick them up.  If you have unruly kids, then taking the elevator is the safest way possible.

Negligence acts equals to casualties and fatalities. Better safe than sorry, no?