Shanghai Disneyland Resort is once again in the spotlight as it offered a stuffed toy to a 4-year-old girl as recompense for hitting a lamppost in the park and getting injured, triggering a heated debate on Chinese social media.
The girl hit her head to an octagonal-shaped decoration of a lamppost in Shanghai Disneyland when she was visiting in the park with her parents on May 2, The Paper reported on Thursday. After a simple treatment in the park, she was taken to the nearby hospital and received two stitches, but because her wound was deep, it cost the family 1,637 yuan (255 U.S. dollars).
The girl’s father believed that Shanghai Disneyland should take full responsibility for his daughter’s injury and asked the park to pay for all the medical costs.
He asked Disneyland for the security camera footage to figure out how his daughter hit on the lamppost and whose responsibility it was. However, he told The Paper that the park refused to provide him with any footage of the incident.
In addition, owing to the fact that most of the visitors to Disneyland are children, the girl's father deemed that the park should be fully aware of any potential safety hazards well in advance. Considering that the street lamps with octagonal-shaped decorations are scattered at every corner of the park and that the height of the decoration is nearly at the same height of a child - roughly 120 cm - he believes they are all safety risks for children, especially during the evening when the lights are dim, reported The Paper.
Two days after the incident, Shanghai Disneyland authorized for a third party to assess who was fully responsible.
After a series of investigations, the company informed the girl's father on May 25 that they believed the park was not responsible for any economic compensation, but the park was willing to offer a stuffed toy as a consolation gift.
He refused to take the gift and insisted that the park should be responsible for all the medical cost. However, the park suggested that if the girl’s father would lower his expected compensation, it would negotiate with him further.
This incident has caused a stir on Chinese social media as netizens held different viewpoints on this issue.
“[I think] Disneyland has no responsibility in this incident. Parents should not blame others for not taking care of their children [in a public place]. What’s more, Disneyland is not just an amusement park for children, adults also account for a large group of the visitors,” commented Weibo user @YYShiWoWoShiWaiWai.
“Disneyland is a place crowded with children. I think the park should consider its design more comprehensively and care about children’s feelings since it is a dream world for children. The park is supposed to improve itself [in every aspect],” said another Weibo user @FeiXingYuanVesta.
According to The Paper, there is no professional standard for street lampposts in China, which means that the pole itself could be in any shape. Although the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development compiled a professional standard for "Technical Conditions for Road Lighting Lamps" two years ago, the document has not yet been formally released and was only issued to relevant departments and enterprises.
An unnamed insider unveiled that lampposts with octagonal, hexagonal, square, round shaped bases are quite common in large-scale amusement parks, however some parks use soft materials in their designs in order to be more child friendly, reported The Paper.
Xiang Shitu, lawyer from a Shanghai-based Guoxiong Law Firm, told The Paper that as an amusement park primarily for children, Disneyland should consider whether their venue contained any potential safety hazards, and also, whether they had issued timely reminders for parents to take care of their children in the park.
Xiang added that parents should also fulfill their duties as guardians when looking after their children. Only with the park and parents jointly fulfill their responsibilities will it be possible to avoid such accidents, said Xiang.
