Yes it is our duty to make sure our kids are safe but it is also the duty of the lifeguard or safety person as well when we take our children to a place where these types of people are employed. I would never turn my back on my child while at a pool or public place regardless of the others who are being paid to watch over him..some do.

I don't have kids, but I wouldn't stop protecting them just because someone else is being paid to. To quote Graham Norton: Kids are like farts, you only really like your own.

Heck, I was in Barnes & Noble just yesterday and heard a child begin screaming, then a minute or so later a woman walked past me nonchalantly saying "come here" as she breezed around the corner. Of course, I had stopped reading as the situation was becoming clear to me... after a little bit of pondering, I looked behind me to see what the situation was with this little girl, and I saw a little blond girl of perhaps 2 years old just crying so loudly, and she's in the middle of the isle, totally abandoned, while her mother was off on her little expedition, totally oblivious to the situation... I spoke to the little girl and asked if she was okay, and was she hurt? and she just kept staring at me as I spoke to her... I asked her if she knew where her mommy was, and the mother came to the edge of the book case at the end of the row, hiding so her daughter couldn't see her, and she whispered to me "she just wants to get her way." I looked at her, letting her know I thought it was an odd thing to say... but instead of doing something, she just backed away and went out of sight again... I finally got out of my seat and went over to the mother and said "you need to get your daughter. This isn't right." Incredibly, she just looked at me and said "she does this all the time. She'll get over it". Well, I did't budge and after a little staring contest she turned and went and got her little girl. She brought her back to where she had been looking at her books around the corner. The little girl quieted down nearly immediately. I was just amazed this woman was so oblivious to the neglect she was demonstrating right there, only 20 or so feet away from her daughter, right there in the store... absolutely astounded...