It’s difficult to imagine what a mother feels when she watches helplessly as her child is attacked by a wild animal. Two such attacks have recently occurred and been splashed all over the news and, of course, people have responded via the internet.

I’m speaking of the gorilla attack at the Cinncinati Zoo & Botanical Garden in Ohio and the alligator attack near a Walt Disney World hotel. More than this, I’m talking about how our culture publicly lambasted moms who messed up.

News Flash: We all mess up, moms included.

For those of us without children, we easily sympathize with animal rights activists and internet haters alike who claim that these women should have been paying closer attention to their children. They should have been moderating their behavior and keeping them safe from harm.

The fact is, they slipped up. They looked away for one second and their children were put in harm’s way as a result. We can pretend all day long like we would never allow our young children out of our site for one second, but we know that not one child would ever be harmed if this were true.

Sadly, young children are harmed every day because we don’t live in a perfect world.

In a perfect world, zoo keepers wouldn’t have to shoot a 17 year-old endangered gorilla in order to save a child that fell into his habitat. In a perfect world, we would be able to go to Disney World and know that we are 100% safe from wildlife because a manmade theme park in Florida would not contain wild alligators. In a perfect world, we wouldn’t criticize the moms whose children have just been through traumatic experiences.

I believe that in a perfect world, we would have empathy and compassion for the grief of others.

It’s been said time and again that it’s impossible to know what someone else is really going through. This is probably because it’s so true. For those of us who don’t have children, our struggle in this realm is greater than others’.

Even for those of us who strongly empathize with the animals harmed, we should be aware of the grief these events have caused to the caretakers and employees involved. Just know that the theme park management and employees will deal with the consequences of their negligence. Know too, that the zookeepers will deal with the consequences of their decision.

In refusing to be kind towards others, I only hope you’re prepared to deal with yours.

I’m not an expert in grief counseling by any means, but I can say with confidence that the grief these families are facing is not ours to comment on. We have absolutely no right to find fault with the parenting styles in these two families because these were not our children.

We do have the right to use our voices, but this right isn’t a solicitation for hateful speech and arrogance. It serves as an opportunity to be heard, to be understood, and--I would argue--to be kind.

No matter how you look at it, people are assigning blame where they should be showing grace. What if instead of denouncing a grieving mother for her parenting style, we focus on praising the fact that human life was valued? What if instead of blaming humans for the terrible things that happen in life, we quietly take a step back and realize that the world isn’t perfect?