Originally posted by garyhoov
I have absolutely no interest in Michael Jackson, but I have to agree with MSUSA that this whole thing got blown out of proportion. It may have been a bit reckless, but most parents play with their children, tossing them in the air, swinging them, holding them with one arm as he was. Even if a baby fell four feet, it would be hurt, and no parent would ever want that to happen, but I've never seen or heard of that happening.
There's just a certain way a parent holds a child. You can be playful, but you always have control and know there is no chance the baby will fall. I would guess (and I certainly don't have any data to back this up) children that experience that sort of motion and playfulness when they are very young will be better adjusted than kids whose parents treat them like eggs.
With all that said, there's certainly no need to do it over a balcony, and Jacko was being somewhat irresponsible, but it isn't worthy of international news coverage.