Merritt Smith had to take her four-year-old daughter to the hospital after she was hit by a boy at school.
While they checked in, a man at the front desk heard about what happened and told Merritt’s daughter: “I bet he likes you.”
Upset over the comment, Ms Smith took to Facebook to respond – explaining that while it may have been meant well, she felt the comment was unacceptable as it sets up a culture where violence is just accepted as a boy trying to show his affections.
She wrote: “Dear man at the registration desk at Nationwide Children’s hospital, l’m positive that you didn’t think that statement through.
“As soon as I heard it I knew that is where it begins. That statement is where the idea that hurting is flirting begins to set a tone for what is acceptable behaviour.
“My four year old knows ‘That’s not how we show we like someone. That was not a good choice’.”
Ms Smith’s response to the man has since gone viral, and shared more than 30,000 times.
The mom, who lives in Ohio in the United Sates, continued: “In that moment, hurt and in a new place, worried about perhaps getting a shot or stitches you were a person we needed to help us and your words of comfort conveyed a message that someone who likes you might hurt you,” she continued.
“No. I will not allow that message to be ok. I will not allow it to be louder than ‘That’s not how we show we like each other’.”
In another post Ms Smith added: “The hospital responded to my email.
“They thanked me for my feedback, acknowledged they had never thought of that situation in that light and consider it food for thought.”
