Kids

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

My friends kid got a hamster for christmas, a day later his mom walked into the room and finds her kid standing over the hamster and it dead. The kid has tears in his eyes and tells her he didnt know he couldnt squeeze it that hard. He wants to know if he can get another one, but my friend is worried because she thinks he did know what he was doing and killed it on purpose. My question is should she be worried or should she believe the kid when he tells her it was just a mistake?

[Hasina]

I wouldn't put a living animal in a situation where you don't know if it'll end up live or dead, especially a pet.

[sarah_444]

How old is the kid? It's kind of hard to say whether or not she should be worried without knowing the kid. They are pretty tiny and fragile. My sister in law bought a hamster for my son when he was three. He was only allowed to play with it while supervised. But if your friend feels like he did know what he was doing, then personally I wouldn't get him another one.

Edited December 27, 2012 by sarah_444

[Ealdwita]

Buy him a Doberman, let's see if he'll squeeze that to death!

[CuriousGreek]

Buy him a Doberman, let's see if he'll squeeze that to death!

LOL

How old is the kid? It's kind of hard to say whether or not she should be worried without knowing the kid. They are pretty tiny and fragile. My sister in law bought a hamster for my son when he was three. He was only allowed to play with it while supervised. But if your friend feels like he did know what he was doing, then personally I wouldn't get him another one.

I agree!!

[Simbi Laveau]

I dunno .Even as a kid,most of us know not to do certain things with animals .

I had mice and fish ,and I never squeezed them or did weird stuff with them ...

[Beckys_Mom]

A lot of small children will not understand how delicate small animals are. If the parents are not bothering to teach a child how to handle a small pet, then I cannot see why they would ever allow them to have one in the first place?

When I was small I was given a hamster..I was never told anything about them. After giving the hamster food, I thought it was having trouble swallowing food, so I held it upside down and shook it, pushing it's cheeks to get the food out.. My mother came into my room and caught me doing this, she quickly took the hamster off me then told me that the hamster was storing food in it's cheeks and she went on to explain more about them.. The hamster was perfectly fine afterwards as was I, because from then on, I knew how to handle the little thing much better.. My mother took responsibility for never explaining to me what a hamster does and how to handle one

My point is, if we do not take some time to explain how to care for any animal, then don't expect a small child with no sense to know better ..Not every parent will bother explaining, so many will think it is cute to hand a child a small pet, but forget that the child could be clueless as to how those little pets need care and handling..

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

The kid is 7 years old, and She had just assumed he would know not to squeeze it to hard. Now the question is whether he knew that sqeezing it to hard would kill it and was just lying about it bieng a mistake, although he did have tears in his eyes which is throwing me

[Purplos]

Does the kid show other signs of being a sadistic little monster?

If the hamster was trying to wiggle away, the kid would hold it tighter. Something important could have broken.

I'd have a long talk with my kid, maybe a talk with people at the pet store with him, and get him another hamster. One dead hamster does not a psychotic animal-killer make.

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

Does the kid show other signs of being a sadistic little monster?

If the hamster was trying to wiggle away, the kid would hold it tighter. Something important could have broken.

I'd have a long talk with my kid, maybe a talk with people at the pet store with him, and get him another hamster. One dead hamster does not a psychotic animal-killer make.

Good advice, I dont think shes going to buy him another hamster yet though, because I mean he could have very well known squeezing it would kill it, I dont think the kid is psychotic and only being the age of 7 I dont think he could hide it that well.

[Beany]

I wouldn't put a living animal in a situation where you don't know if it'll end up live or dead, especially a pet.

Guinea pigs are more durable, except when they eat plastic blocks kids drop in their cage. Or feathers. Who knew a guinea pig would eat feathers?

[Kazahel]

Being his age and having tears in his eyes I think says everything. Poor kid now knows he killed his pet. I'd get him another and like others have said, teach him.

[Sunny Day]

This is a hard one without knowing anything further about the child (or mother for that matter). It may well have been an innocent accident (which I'd lean towards TBH) or the kid got a urge to be almighty powerful creature killer, OR he was experimenting with what the poor thing could tolerate and it went too far - that is a not-so-innocent accident. Whatever happened, obviously it was a big lesson day. For the kid and the parent.

Hope something was learnt and the poor thing didn't die in vain.

Next purchase should be a book on caring for hamsters and/or a trip to the library. Then, and ONLY then, once the books have been read and understood by all parties, should another innocent hamster be purchased (with the kids pocket money).

Who knows? The kid may grow up to a caring and brilliant vet, always working to save lives to make up for this error? You never know

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

This is a hard one without knowing anything further about the child (or mother for that matter). It may well have been an innocent accident (which I'd lean towards TBH) or the kid got a urge to be almighty powerful creature killer, OR he was experimenting with what the poor thing could tolerate and it went too far - that is a not-so-innocent accident. Whatever happened, obviously it was a big lesson day. For the kid and the parent.

Hope something was learnt and the poor thing didn't die in vain.

Next purchase should be a book on caring for hamsters and/or a trip to the library. Then, and ONLY then, once the books have been read and understood by all parties, should another innocent hamster be purchased (with the kids pocket money).

Who knows? The kid may grow up to a caring and brilliant vet, always working to save lives to make up for this error? You never know

Yeah thats true or he could grow up to be a serial killer, but its kind of hard for me to gauge the situation because I wasnt there at the time this occured, But I have met the kid and he doesnt seem the type to kill a helpless animal. Like i said in an earlier post hes only 7 years old, so even if he was hiding something I dont think he could do it to the degree that would fool his mom on a daily basis.

[Sunny Day]

Yeah thats true or he could grow up to be a serial killer, but its kind of hard for me to gauge the situation because I wasnt there at the time this occured, But I have met the kid and he doesnt seem the type to kill a helpless animal. Like i said in an earlier post hes only 7 years old, so even if he was hiding something I dont think he could do it to the degree that would fool his mom on a daily basis.

Sure. That's why a big part of the situation is the mum. You're right about a kid of 7 not getting much past his mother. My daughter is 8 and a terrible liar. You can read her like a book, truly. I don't think they learn to get really sneaky until 10 or 11. Also you can usually tell when tears are fake or not and kids can't hide emotions well (unless they have other issues or an inability to feel empathy). The mum would know her kid best and know whether he was truly sad for killing the critter.

On a side note, it got me thinking about "Of Mice and Men". Good book.

[Ultima Weapon]

My question is should she be worried or should she believe the kid when he tells her it was just a mistake?

Both. I would say that you should always give your kid the benefit of the doubt unless they give you a legitimate reason not to. At the same time, there's nothing wrong with a little caution. In other words, believe the kid, just monitor them more.

[Bonecrusher]

My friends kid got a hamster for christmas, a day later his mom walked into the room and finds her kid standing over the hamster and it dead. The kid has tears in his eyes and tells her he didnt know he couldnt squeeze it that hard. He wants to know if he can get another one, but my friend is worried because she thinks he did know what he was doing and killed it on purpose. My question is should she be worried or should she believe the kid when he tells her it was just a mistake?

It's a sad fact but hamsters do have very short lives.

You really do need to do your research on the upkeep of them.

It's not like handling dogs and cats and they need to be handled with kid gloves.

My mate from a few years ago went through a succession of them.

I don't think it was similar to this situation but he could have got a bit rough without me knowing.

You never know but this kid could win a humantarian award in the future.

From what I gather he dosn't look like the type to torture and kill animals.

The fact that he showed genuine remorse is very encouraging.

Edited December 28, 2012 by Medium Brown

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

It's a sad fact but hamsters do have very short lives.

You really do need to do your research on the upkeep of them.

It's not like handling dogs and cats and they need to be handled with kid gloves.

My mate from a few years ago went through a succession of them.

I don't think it was similar to this situation but he could have got a bit rough without me knowing.

You never know but this kid could win a humantarian award in the future.

From what I gather he dosn't look like the type to torture and kill animals.

The fact that he showed genuine remorse is very encouraging.

You make a good points and I think the fact that he showed remorse says volumes about the incident. So thanks everyone for weighing in on this, I will make sure that if she gets him another hamster she gives him the do's and donts of owning it.

[Beckys_Mom]

The kid is 7 years old, and She had just assumed he would know not to squeeze it to hard.

My daughter recently turned seven years old .. I still have to remind her how to handle our cats and her little brother.. She is learning and coming on well.. I never will assume my daughter knows all;..Sometimes you just can't turn your back on kids...I used to get a feeling of dread when I knew she was up stairs and it went very quiet, it told me she was up to something.. We still check in on her now and again ..It becomes a habit

Now the question is whether he knew that sqeezing it to hard would kill it and was just lying about it bieng a mistake, although he did have tears in his eyes which is throwing me

As so many have pointed out, with the child who had tears in his eyes, I think it is safe to say he is not some evil little terror. If you had of said the kid was standing there showing no emotion and didn't care or laughing at it all, then that would raise more than a few eye brows.. But he didn't.... He must have been scared to see it die like that and felt sad.. I say once more is explained to the child, then he might catch on and do so much better next time...

Edited December 28, 2012 by Beckys_Mom

[Miss Shadows]

Why does your child think his or her friend did this purposefully? I would ask, and see if he saw something that contradicts what everyone else saw, a 7 year old child in tears. Not a happy image, no, and I think I agree with a little bit of everything that's been said. Children are often over-simplified, if you ask me; some have more sense or 'sensitivity' with animals, some are aggressive or manipulative. I also think psychopaths are lumped together, wrapped into a bundle of terms and symptoms that fit nicely in the trunkspace of society. You have the occasional Jeffrey Dahmers, sure, but I think for the most part we're either self-contained or otherwise avoided individuals who have any combination of apathy, sadistic tendencies, narcissism, the list goes on. This could be the case of a child who was clumsy and unprepared (I wholly agree there should've been education and supervision involved), and for all we know it could've been intentional. I think just assuming the latter would be harmful, and I would advise asking questions, listening, watching, and just being careful. Oh, and the common sense/gut feeling factor is huge. My mother had been abusing drugs for years by the time I was in high school but the outward signs were minimal up till then. The person I sought advice from gave me the 'if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck' adage, and sure enough months later I was looking for some paper she wanted me to grab from a drawer, and about 12 bottles total of Vicodin and Morphine fell out.

[ReaperS_ParadoX]

Why does your child think his or her friend did this purposefully? I would ask, and see if he saw something that contradicts what everyone else saw, a 7 year old child in tears. Not a happy image, no, and I think I agree with a little bit of everything that's been said. Children are often over-simplified, if you ask me; some have more sense or 'sensitivity' with animals, some are aggressive or manipulative. I also think psychopaths are lumped together, wrapped into a bundle of terms and symptoms that fit nicely in the trunkspace of society. You have the occasional Jeffrey Dahmers, sure, but I think for the most part we're either self-contained or otherwise avoided individuals who have any combination of apathy, sadistic tendencies, narcissism, the list goes on. This could be the case of a child who was clumsy and unprepared (I wholly agree there should've been education and supervision involved), and for all we know it could've been intentional. I think just assuming the latter would be harmful, and I would advise asking questions, listening, watching, and just being careful. Oh, and the common sense/gut feeling factor is huge. My mother had been abusing drugs for years by the time I was in high school but the outward signs were minimal up till then. The person I sought advice from gave me the 'if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck' adage, and sure enough months later I was looking for some paper she wanted me to grab from a drawer, and about 12 bottles total of Vicodin and Morphine fell out.

Yeah as far as the kid not bieng superivised with the animal she told me she was in the bathroom at the time this happened, shes just worried like all parents that have kids would be is what Im assuming and just brought the question up to me because she thought it was odd, that as soon as he gets it he ends up killing it. I think she just wants to have all her bases covered so her kid doesnt end up becoming a Jeffrey Dahmer. It was a mistake to leave the kid alone and not explain how to handle the hamster, she understands that now and we all make mistakes.

[Hasina]

Two words: PET. ROCK.

[JGirl]

My friends kid got a hamster for christmas, a day later his mom walked into the room and finds her kid standing over the hamster and it dead. The kid has tears in his eyes and tells her he didnt know he couldnt squeeze it that hard. He wants to know if he can get another one, but my friend is worried because she thinks he did know what he was doing and killed it on purpose. My question is should she be worried or should she believe the kid when he tells her it was just a mistake?

she should not buy the kid another hamster. man you gotta squeeze pretty damned hard to kill it and i'm sure the little critter was fighting for its life too

the kid is either way too young for a pet or has a mean streak in him. if the mom thinks it's the latter then she needs to address that as well, never mind the hamster.

[Beckys_Mom]

she should not buy the kid another hamster. man you gotta squeeze pretty damned hard to kill it and i'm sure the little critter was fighting for its life too

the kid is either way too young for a pet or has a mean streak in him. if the mom thinks it's the latter then she needs to address that as well, never mind the hamster.

I hate to do this ( because I normally agree with most of what you post ) but I disagree, I do not think the child has a mean streak in him... He must have been frightened by what happened to be in tears over it. If he was enjoying the pain of killing the hamster, then I would see your point, but from reading the OP, it was not like that. ....

I feel if more info is explained to a child about how to handle small pets, and keep an eye on them, then things could become better...I also feel that some of us forget what it was like to be a child and clueless to so many things

I mentioned ( a few posts back ) how I was hurting a hamster when I was a child, nothing before hand was explained to me about them. My mother just gave me the hamster to look after and that was it. I was shaking the life out of it thinking it's food was jammed in it's mouth... The hamster was fine afterwards when my mom took it off me.. She later explained to me how to handle such a pet, and I gained some amount of understanding, but I didn't have a mean streak in me, I was just clueless how to handle a hamster at that time ..I have seen so many children around pets and a good few of them have no clue how to handle a pet, it is not their fault, they should be taught how to care for the animals and how to handle them

My baby boy who is 7 and a half months old, loves to see our cats enter the room... He gets excited.. Misty ( the tabby ) is more friendly to be around and she comes over, nudging her head into us and purring loudly, she also nudges little Aaron.. He then reaches out and grabs her, and such a strong little grip, he pulls at her ears, I quickly release his tiny hand, and try and get him to copy me, petting her gently.. But being only 7 months old, he has no clue lol.. So I don't allow him to grab her, when he reaches out I turn him around and distract him away from the cat, even though the cat is nudging him looking attention.. She doesn't care, she nudges him again to get attention..

When he gets a bit older, I will be teaching him how to handle pets more just like I have done with Becky, who was once rough with animals ..Children can be rough and not understand how it can really hurt the animal..I recall myself as a child not understanding at one point.. I now love animals and would never hurt them.. We learn as we grow

Edited December 29, 2012 by Beckys_Mom

[JGirl]

I hate to do this ( because I normally agree with most of what you post ) but I disagree, I do not think the child has a mean streak in him... He must have been frightened by what happened to be in tears over it. If he was enjoying the pain of killing the hamster, then I would see your point, but from reading the OP, it was not like that. ....

I feel if more info is explained to a child about how to handle small pets ,and keep an eye on them, then things could become better...I also feel that some of us forget what it was like to be a child and clueless to so many things

I mentioned how I was hurting a hamster when I was a child, nothing was explained to me about them.. I was shaking the life out of it thinking it's food was jammed in it's mouth... The hamster was fine afterwards when my mom took it off me.. She later explained to me how to handle such a pet, and I gained some amount of understanding, but I didn't have a mean streak in me, I was just clueless how to handle a hamster ..I have seen so many children around pets and a good few of them have no clue how to handle a pet, it is not their fault, they should be taught how to care for the animals and how to handle them

My baby boy who is 7 and a half months old, loves to see our cats enter the room... He gets excited.. Misty ( the tabby ) is more friendly to be around and she comes over, nudging her head into us and purring loudly, she also nudges little Aaron.. He then reaches out and grabs her, and such a strong little grip, he pulls at her ears, I quickly release his tiny hand, and try and get him to copy me, petting her gently.. But being only 7 months old, he has no clue lol.. So I don't allow him to grab her.. She doesn't care, she nudges him again to get attention..

When he gets a bit older, I will be teaching him how to handle pets more just like I have done with Becky, who was once rough with animals ..Children can be rough and not understand how it can really hurt the animal..I recall myself as a child not understanding at one point.. I now love animals and would never hurt them.. We learn as we grow

i think you misunderstood my post. i wasn't implying the kid has problems i was responding to the OP in which it is said that the mom was thinking that might be an issue

personally i don't feel any child that age should have a pet so small.