The human race never ceases to amaze me. May 28, 2016 started off much like any other Saturday would, yet by the end of the day, the entire Internet had lost its mind.
If you've been living under a rock for the past week, let me enlighten you: a young child went to the zoo with his family. Said child escaped from his mother's hold and fell into the gorilla pit with 400+ pound Silverback gorilla, Harambe. The gorilla was shot in an effort to save the child. The child, other than a concussion and a few bruises, was unharmed.
May 28, 2016: the day that everyone became a critic, an animal activist and a parenting expert, even though many of these critics have no kids and had little interest in endangered animals before the situation.
The big problem that this introduces is not that of animal cruelty. It is not that of parental negligence. The real issue with which we should concern ourselves is the way the Internet is making us lose our empathy.
The mother of the young boy who fell in, Michelle Gregg, has received numerous death threats. The public has spoken, condemning this woman. Her charge? Failure to attend to her child which resulted in the death of Harambe.
Are. You. Kidding. Me.
I was discussing this event with my friends and found myself reacting in a similar way to the rest of the Internet: "What is wrong with her! She should keep a better eye on her kids! I would never do something like that because I was raised better!"
Only, I did so something like that, as did my siblings.
I ran away from my parents in a Target, causing a Code Adam to be called and the entire Target to be shut down for thirty minutes.
My sister ran away from my parents at Wild Adventures, yes, WILD ADVENTURES, and rode the largest rollercoaster there. Considering this past weekend, I consider us lucky that she didn't hop in a cage with tigers.
So, reality humbled me a bit. Here is what I have come to realize:
Kids have minds of their own. No matter how much you may discipline your kids, chances are they will still do stupid things.
Heck, I do stupid stuff all the time, and I'm 21. Praise the Lord that no one is able to catch me on a video camera because I have some real headline material in my past. Chances are, I would give that child a run for his money.
Because of social media, we are becoming more and more unable to be gracious to others. Memes and attention-grabbing headlines draw us in, and we are no longer able to realize that situations such as this one are things that could easily happen to us.
Rather, we are too quick to comment on a situation that we honestly have very little information about. We are hidden behind a computer screen as we make jabs at a woman who we could easily become one day.
The Internet has allowed us all to jump in on a fight that wasn't ever ours in the beginning.
What's even worse is that this mob has lit torches to fight for the gorilla, yet it fails to realize what's really important.
That little boy is still alive. A child's life trumps that of any animal, no matter how endangered it may be—even that of a silverback gorilla.
So, yes, grieve the death of Harambe, the gorilla, if you must, however, thank the good Lord that we aren't grieving the loss of a young child instead.
Hop on down off your high horse and realize that we all make mistakes. The only difference is that not all of them make it to Internet headlines.
