The story is definitely terrible and I can’t imagine losing a little boy like that. I really can’t fault the father despite it not being a great activity to be doing with a 6 year old. The boy probably just wanted to help his dad throw some sticks in the chipper. How many of us have helped our dads mow the lawn or hammer some nails in as kids? It was an accident that wasn’t necessarily bound to happen. Also, isn’t something that size incredibly loud for a 6 year old?
I also don’t think the jokes are directed towards the family but at the nature of the situation. I guarantee if the 6 year old was a 30 year old that fell in, everybody would be cracking jokes.