What would you do if this happened to your kid?

Question

I was at the pool the other day with my mest friend and her 2 1/2 year old daughter. The little girl made friends with a little boy about her age, and he had some older siblings or cousins that were around him. We were lying in the sun while the little girl played with the other kids in a grassy area a few feet away. All of the sudden I looked up, and my niece was standing in the middle of the older kids, had her bathingsuit pulled down to her waist. I pointed it out to my friend, who told her daughter to pull up her bathingsuit. All the older kids started giggling and covering their faces. My friend asked her daughter why she had pulled down her bathingsuit down, and she told us, "See those kids? They wanted to see." She wouldn't say anything else.
My friend seemed to think it was no big deal and just told her daughter to stop playing with them. I felt like we should have gone over there and yelled at the kids or told their parents. It just seemed creepy to me. Am I overreacting?

By the way, the little boy my niece was playing with was maybe 3 or 4, but the older kids with him who told her to put down her bathing suit were at least 11 or 12.

Answer 1

def'ly not overreacting, and yes, i would have stepped in! they would all have gotten nice "mom talks" from me, and their parents would be made aware of their children's actions. this world is too scary enough, the last thing we as parents should do is allow our children to be violated in any way!!!!

Answer 2

How old were the other kids? If they were really little, then it's not a big deal. If they were older, say, older than 7, then it's a bigger deal and their parents should be told.

It's a little creepy, but if the kids are very young, then it's actually not creepy. Your friend should keep a better watch on her daughter when not in a controlled environment.

Answer 3

Children should never be left with other children that are not the same age group. Yes their parents should have been told. 11/12 yo's like to show off in front of their friends and are capable of some terrible, stupid, irresponsible stuff that they dont realise could go too far and get them into serious troble cos in groups, they encourage eachother and do things they might not normally do. Young children should only be allowed to play with young children.

Answer 4

She should have talked to the parents of the 11 and 12 year olds.

Answer 5

i'm 18 and that i used to play exterior all of the whilst whilst i grew to become right into a baby. i think that's totally virtually too risky to pass exterior, or that's what mum and dad think of besides, for this reason proscribing the infants from enjoying exterior. I additionally believe technologies performs a area, I each from time to time might particularly stay in and watch a action picture or talk on line than pass out, somewhat in undesirable climate, its a laziness factor additionally! even with the incontrovertible fact that, i think of the Olympics has sparked infants enjoying exterior returned. i've got seen many households biking, and my nephew won't supply up pretending to run music! possibly a metamorphosis is on the horizon!

Answer 6

No, you are not overreacting! It is a very big deal- it is not normal for children to act that way! Those kids need to be spoken to about their conduct ( by their parents ) - it really could be categorized as sexual harassment- and secondly, your niece needs to be taught about "good touch, bad touch" kind of stuff- she is very vulnerable to being abused since she obviously doesn't understand that she shouldn't show her body to ppl. Your friend needs to get with it.

Answer 7

If that was my daughter I'd just help her back into her suit and tell her to have fun. No need to freak out. No matter what the other kids meant by it, all they got was a bare-chested toddler.

Recently I took my daughter to a park fountain (the kind you're allowed to wade in) and she was having a great time. She got out, peeled off her entire bathing suit and ran through the fountain laughing her little head off. Then she came back to me and I re-dressed her. I saw no reason to ruin her fun. :)

Answer 8

This is not "creepy". Little kids usually don't have any of the heavy sexual connotation attached to things like this. They really just "wanna see" how girls are different than boys. It is perfectly natural and fine IMHO.

** I say "usally" because rarley you will encounter achild who has been molested and they will take these innocent exploration too far, they don't know any better.

Answer 9

i would of talked with the parents of the older kids. after yelling at the older kids!!! this is no way to behave and explain to the little girl that this was not an excepted behavior and to not let the older kids bully her around

Answer 10

Those kids should have been disciplined in some way. If that was not possible, the girl should be spoken to. "What they asked you to do was wrong...this is your body and you deserve respect and privacy", that sort of thing. Make sure she knows what they asked was WRONG, so she doesn't feel compelled to do it again and maybe get herself into a sticky situation.

Answer 11

I believe it is you and your friend who should be scolded, A 21/2 year old child has not learned right from wrong yet.
Had you and/or your Friend actually been paying attention to such a young child (As any responsible parent or adult should ) this incident would have never occurred.