The mother defended her son's right not to share toys, and this post was shared more than 200,000 times

When, during a walk in the park, a group of boys approached the son of Alania Kolberg Carson and demanded that he share his toys with them, the mother got out of the situation in a way that other parents hardly expected. Her story has gained huge popularity on the Internet, and people's reaction to what Alania wrote on Facebook will surprise you.

Kolberg wrote her post on April 19, and it has already been shared more than 200 thousand times, about the same number of times by clicking on the "Like" button. Hundreds of parents and childless users left their comments, giving rise to a complex but thought—provoking discussion about the true meaning of the old saying "Don't be lazy - share!" ("Sharing is caring" in English). Surprisingly, Alania Kolberg's approach united people rather than divided them.

(6 photos in total)

Source: Bored Panda

So, what did little Carson's mom write? "My child is not obliged to share with your children. As soon as we arrived at the park, at least six boys approached Carson, and all demanded that he share his transformer, a Minecraft action figure and a truck. He was clearly stunned and clutched the toys to his chest, while the boys stretched out their hands to them. He was looking at me. "You can tell them no, Carson," I said. "Just say no." You don't need to say anything else." Of course, as soon as he said no, the boys ran to me to tell me that he hadn't shared. I said, "He shouldn't share with you. He said no. If he wants to share, he will share." Because of this, some parents looked at me askance."

"Nevertheless, here's what I'll say. If I, an adult, come to the park and eat a sandwich, do I have to share my sandwich with strangers in the park? No! Is a well-mannered adult, a stranger to me, going to stretch out his hands to take a sandwich from me, and be offended if I don't let him take it? And again, no. So tell me, since you are casting sidelong glances in my direction, obviously believing that my son and I are behaving rudely, who here lacks education? A person who does not want to give three of his toys to six strangers, or six strangers who demand to be given something that does not belong to them, even if the owner of these things is clearly unpleasant?"

"The goal is to teach our children to cope with adult life. I know a few adults who obviously never learned to share in childhood, I know a lot more people who don't know how to say "no" to other people, or set boundaries, or take care of themselves. This also applies to myself. Anyway, Carson brought the toys, just to share them with my friend's little daughter, whom we were supposed to meet at the park. He didn't want to share them with the toy-hungry boys just because he was going to surprise her."

"The next time your toddler runs up to you upset that another child has not shared something with him, please remember that we do not live in a world where people give everything they have to others simply because they asked. I'm going to teach my child that this is exactly how it works."

Many parents supported Alanya in the comments, also giving examples with their children and pointing out that a child who plays with a toy is not obliged to give it to another child for no reason, as soon as he asks. Some noted that the child should share public things, such as swings or slides in the park, but not his personal toys if he does not want to.

Other parents angrily wrote that it was impossible to compare a toy and a sandwich and that there was nothing wrong with letting other children play with their toys if they asked. One of the users said that this way the child will not be able to make friends and that in vain the mother teaches him to do so.

And what do you think: is Alanya a greedy beef or is it still right?