As a small child I was dangled over the edge of a small water craft by a drunken brother while everyone else just laughed and thought it was so funny.
These idiots simply do not realize the danger of the kid being accidentally dropped. Another issue is instilling a life long fear of water or heights.
But people will be people, and have been dangling kids since kids were invented, and will keep doing so until until the world ends. You cannot fix stupid.
I have some stories but will not relate them here.
Years ago, we took my two oldest grandsons on a cruise for the younger one’s birthday. My daughter was a wreck because the oldest ,who was then 12, was and still is a daredevil. She warned us to watch him like a hawk for fear he would try to do a Wallender on one of the railings. Of course, he didn’t but we didn’t let him out of our sight.
I can’t imagine what these families are going through.
You are not alone. My dad had a bad habit of holding me up above railings “so I could see”, without prior warning: the Statue of Liberty (memory plays trick, but I think this was back when you could actually go into the crown); and, an ALLIGATOR FARM. My father was not a daredevil and I trusted him to hang on, but 55+ years on, my pulse rate has doubled while I type this.
You are correct and I am sorry you had to experience the stupid first hand.