That's not entirely accurate from what I read, but I can tell you that a moist cloth on the lips is like manna from heaven when you are thirsty. I went two days without water at a time when I was drinking over a gallon of fluids a day. I was getting IVs, but I was parched and my lips cracked -- in two days, and I had IVs.
So let's quit portraying this as an effort to hydrate her, it was a publicity stunt from start to finish. Now I don't necessarily have problems with publicity stunts per se (this one was an A+), civil disobedience has a long and revered history in America starting with the Boston Tea Party.
Even, or maybe even especially, in cases of civil disobedience, it pays to have someone 'on the outside.'
However, I do have a problem with parents getting their kids involved in actions that could end up in confrontation, altercation or arrest. Children simply do not have the judgment to make decisions about getting involved in such things and parents should always err on the side of safety.
I haven't seen, nor do I expect any confrontations. I don't think that safety is really an issue. The kids aren't going to jail with criminals. They will be treated with kid gloves. If my kids, when they were that young, wanted to do this, I would have been proud to go with them.
I agree the children can have compassion for Terri and they certainly can understand being starved to death. But do they understand the legal complexities of who has the right to make the call to remove care or life support? Do they understand the nuances of federal vs. state rights? Do they understand the issue of euthanasia (Soylent Green is PEOPLE!) All these are facets of this sad event.
I do believe that the kids had the idea and understood right from wrong. Maybe not all of the nuances, but they know instinctively this is wrong. We don't starve anyone in this country who is guilty of a crime. We surely shouldn't starve an innocent women. That we make it more nuanced than that is on us. That we haven't corrected this before it got to this point is on us. The Republic will not fall because of these kids or because this was pushed to the Congress and POTUS to do something. Rather the failure to act would hasten its demise and make it less worthy and less likely to be remembered as America.
I don't have a problem with people taking their children to peaceful rallies or marches. However, I think it is selfish of parents to stick signs in their kids hands, signs the kids neither created nor understand. On a very basic level this is exploiting the children, the image and concept of "innocence" for the sake of a photo op the parents could not duplicate on their own.
Viewed in the most cynical light, that might be true. My own experience with children is that they are impassioned, creative, and anxious to help. That is not exploitation.