gd26 Posted March 23, 2009 Share Posted March 23, 2009 Hello. Yesterday I was buying groceries in a market, and I saw a woman shouting for several minutes at a young child. Watching this made from a distance made me feel very uncomfortable.... as the little girl was just standing there silently as the woman (mother?) continued to shout right in her face. Having been abused as a child myself, my heart really broke seeing that as I know how damaging that is for children. As I was leaving, I saw the woman and her kids get into their car and leave, and I had the feeling that I wished I had said something. Even though I am scared of confrontation, I almost wished I had said something to the woman about her behavior being inappropriate or taken down her car license number to report to authorities. I don't know what is appropriate for me to do when I observe such scenes. This is not the first time, as I have seen strangers being inappropriate with their kids many times when I am out doing errands, shopping etc. The poor kids look so scared and sad, I just wish I could do something. However, I feel uncomfortable confronting a stranger about his/her behavior, especially as that person may turn his/her rage on me and tell me I have no business telling him/her how to raise his/her kids. Not being a parent myself, I don't assume that raising children are easy. Maybe someday when I'm a parent, I will be frustrated as well with my kids. But having been abused myself, I can only attest to the long-term damages that causes to the kids, as I have been there and am still dealing with the scars today. When I observe verbal/emotional/physical abuse of children by adult strangers, what should I do? Link to post Share on other sites
Just Angel Posted April 2, 2009 Share Posted April 2, 2009 I have called social services on strangers before due to what Ive seen them do to their kids. I have also confronted women. Quietly, calmly and with a heavy heart I have walked up to several women and told them if they could step back and see what they have just done to their children their heart would break. None took this well of course, but I dont care about that. I do know that they drove away with my words on their hearts and minds. Link to post Share on other sites
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