Kids' feet in the floodwaters near the river: harmless fun or risky business?

Weigh in on our anonymous straw poll and explain your stance

Last week, in a post titled Faces of the Flood: humans and dogs, I featured this reader-submitted photo of kids sitting on a submerged picnic table on the flooded Riverwalk in downtown Northfield:

I shared the post on our Northfield.org Facebook page, my Facebook profile, and two Facebook Groups, Northfield Happenings and Greater Northfield Happenings.

The picnic table photo generated considerable controversy. Most commenters mentioned either the danger of the kids being so close to the fast-flowing river or the health concerns of them wading in likely contaminated water. A few thought those worries were overblown.

I took this photo of the spot a few days later when the river receded enough to reveal more detail of the scene:

Other photos I published in that post showed kids, adults, and dogs in the floodwaters. To my knowledge, one person in the Facebook discussion threads had concerns about the dogs, but no one else mentioned any worries about the activity depicted in the other photos:

Take this anonymous straw poll:

Consider explaining the rationale for your choice in a comment below. And feel free to argue with others about their reasoning. Note our civility rules.