An Alabama woman (presumably) vacationing in Rome was arrested for felony first-degree cruelty to children because she was dragging her son through a store while he was still hooked into his “child harness” or as some people like to call them, “human leash.”

I try not to judge other parents. Stop laughing. Seriously, I do. I have been down the hard road of the two’s, and the even thornier path of the three’s. I have probably done some things that other people would label as mean, even though I considered it tough love to march out of a store carrying a kicking and screaming toddler who was of course unable to listen to reason.

I do sort of have a problem with the kid leashes, because I think that it teaches both parent and child to rely on an artificial device to teach boundaries, when it should be a shared lesson in communication. However, it might work for people with disabilities or elderly grandparents, so I try to keep Judgy McJudgerson in check when I see them.

Unfortunately, this video has no sound, so we don’t know if the child was screaming at ear-piercing decibels the entire time, and if that was the case, I’m sort of in her court because I hate when parents subject everyone else to their children’s tantrums as if it were a matter of course. The only way to deal with the tantrums is to do what you have to do while ignoring the screams.

But I have to admit, this tape certainly doesn’t look good, and according to the source, the woman is still in jail, being held without bail.

Too harsh? Or just right?