I hope you found their parents and let them know what had happened, though I will bet they were nowhere around. I certainly would have talked to the parents had I been there, if only to tell them what had happened and then let them (hopefully) handle it from there. I appreciate you letter, and fully intend to practice respect for life in raising my son.

Why didn't you call the cops if the brats' parents were right there? I believe that Canada Geese are still on the Federally Protected list and that harassing them and killing their young is illegal. Those little darlings need leashes and the parents need a good swift kick. But that is typical of North Carolina people - no respect for anything.

Rather harsh judgment on the people of NC, TJ. Got some good examples?

Agreed on the leashes and swift kick TJ, but as Carol asks what's this "typical of NC people". I didn't know we had a stranglehold on mean kids and clueless parents.

BTW, we teach our kids respect and admiration for animals, I wish others would do the same.

Carol, you are correct on the Canadian Geese still being on the federally protected list. So, technically, the little brats are guilty of a misdemeanor at the least. Depending upon their age, it could easily be held against the parent/s.

I agree, something should have been said to the parents since the LTE writer states, "he parents of the children were under the shelter having a great time letting the kids "amuse themselves." "

Sounds like the parents should have been the ones who need the stronger discipline in this case!

Shalom

And by the way TJ how do you know they were NC people. They might have been yankee's or worse yet invaders from south of the boarder. Since you don't seem to like NC folks what are you doing here troubling yourself to put up with them thar tarble NC folk? Heck maybe you orta pack up yore carpetbag and hitch yer self a ride out uv hear ifin you dislak NC folk that much.

Dang can't believe some folk would make such ignorant statements . Them kinda folk wouldn't know beans with the lid open on em. But then the wind blows in all kinds I reckon.

Okay, here goes. I am the writer of the letter. In retrospect,I agree I should have called the police. We were a mile from home though and by the time we left, some of the crowd was trickling out. We never found out who the children belonged to as they were from different sets of parents. The reason we didn't confront the crowd is because there were probably over 50 people. My husband has dealt with a similar crowd before (when working as a bouncer in a club) and we felt that a confontation wouldn't be a safe, secure environment for our children. (Even if there happened to be no physical danger, I could tell by the conversations we heard, there most definitely would have be some verbal discussions I wouldn't have wanted my 6 and 4 year old to hear). We would definitely never put our children in danger when we were just taking a family walk to what we had considered a safe public park. I guess that was just our way of protecting our young. To TJ, I have grown up in NC just a short way from this park. Most people from NC I have known would never do this to an animal family. There are heartless, inattentive parents and children everywhere in the world.

I agree with your decision, Kelly. Confronting unknown people can be very dangerous. Also agree that there are wonderful people all over the world and especially in NC.

BTW, did you swim at SSRC years ago?

Kelly, thanks for joining in, it's rare a writer does so. I think you did the right thing. Many years ago I was at Belews lake water skiing. One of my passengers dropped a ski to learn to slalom. Then someone in another boat picked up the ski. When I high-tailed over there and asked the guys for my ski one of them showed me his gun.

I did get the boat registration and called the wildlife officers and the police but they really didn't seem to care.

Confronting strangers who do something illegal or just wrong can be dangerous these days, especially with those North Carolina people.

TJ:

Typical of the people in NC? So you judge all of the people in North Carolina by the actions of these brats? This is like saying all blacks are looters because a FEW blacks looted in New Orleans after the hurricane. Or like saying all Duke men are rapist because of what supposedly happened with the lacrosse team.

My friend, generalizations are a sign of ignorance. Congratulations! You just proved this true.

I hate the overpopulation of Canadian geese. They've littered our parks with poop that is nearly unavoidable. People with children cannot go to the park without knowing their kids are going to be stepping in goose poop. There is no telling what diseases are in that poop. Bird flu, anyone?

Now, I'm not advocating breaking goose eggs or harming animals. I think Kelly has the right idea. Train your own kids to be respectful and kind to living things.

I'm sorry Kelly had to go through that. I know that was upsetting with her kids witnessing those poor dead goose babies.

However, I think the idea of calling the police on 'young boys' who broke an egg with a stick is overreacting and just downright foolish. First, boys do mean things. I'd find it hard to believe there is a boy reading this that didn't kill an ant, pop a dog with a slingshot, or ruin a bird egg at some point in his life. I'd hazard a guess that if Kelly has a son, regardless of her teachings, he'll at one point in his life do something that harms a living thing (even if it is just swatting at a mosquito).

Hopefully, when (not if) that happens, nobody will get the police involved.

I know Kelly. She's great with kids. And she's got a kind heart. I'm sorry this happened to her. However, I think she did the right thing by writing this letter and taking personal responsibility in training up the kids that she encounters in her life.

As far as blaming the parents for everything, I would say that it depends on the age of the boys. I don't believe parents can watch their children at all times and should feel safe enough to allow 8-9 year old boys to wander from their eyesight for a few minutes.

Hey yellowdog. How do you know me? Just curious:) The police would have probably just laughed at me had I called. The boys were between the ages 3-9 and the youngest two were apparently the ones who did it. 3 year olds need to be taught the right and wrong things to do since that is such a formidable age. And, yes, geese are everywhere and they do have quite the tendency to poop. But that incident was utterly heartbreaking to my daughters (and me, as my husband said "Are you...crying?" after it happened.)And I just wanted to remind parents that if they are supervising their children, they can teach them how to be good, kindhearted people. But of course if the parents aren't good people who lead with fine examples, then the cycle just continues. Thanks for the kind words about me. Sometimes I think my heart is a little too big. I am good with kids because I love being around them and I try to help every child I meet become a better person. They are much easier to persuade to make good decisions than adults;) Especially with, you know, us horrible North Carolinians...

kelli,

I know you through your work with the preschool. You are great with the kids and your kind heart comes through.

I told my wife about your letter last night and she nearly started crying too. It is definitely something I wouldn't want my kids to see. It's tough enough to explain the concept of death to kids, but to try to explain why another kid would cause that is tough as well.

I had assumed the children were much older and I would agree that 3 year olds are too young to be left unattended. Nor do I think 6-8 year olds are qualified to watch them.

Great letter!

Oops. I meant Kelly, not Kelli.