how does the law stand on a child being told off by a adult who is a stranger to him?

Question

my son had a bag in his pocket which while leaving primary school with myself on our bikes fell from his pocket to which he was told by a near 6ft so called woman that he had dropped litter and was to pck it up without even looking at his mother , this frightened him as he is only 7 and didn't realise it had fallen from his pocke this so called woman is at the school gates every morning and afternoon and my son is now afraid to enter the school , I did inform the woman she was not to approach my son and should not approach any one else's child to which she replied sh didn't give a **** and told me I was a silly **** I would dearly love to know if she in fact is committing a crime by this or not . thanks

Answer 1

Is she there at the gates in any official capacity? Even if she is a volunteer, there are guidelines, and in my opinion, she has clearly violated any guidelines that could exist. Why have you not gone directly to the principal/superintendant and reported this!?

That woman has absolutely NO business interacting with children AT ALL, in any capacity. Please take this above her head.

Now, if she is simply a parent, still inform the authorities of what happened, and take your son along when you do so, so that he will understand that school is not a scary place, with lots of mean adults. There was a woman (parent) at our school, that was so unhinged the school got a court order to keep her off the property, so she may be mentally ill.

Answer 2

I wouldn't be in a rush to cal the police. They really have serious matters to contend with and it would be unfortunate if they missed some tragic event trying to settle a domestic squabble. People do have a right to freedom of speech although I don't particularly like th demeanour this woman has displayed. Unfortunately their is no law against being an ignoramus. If this behaviour continued towards your child then I would suggest taking some form of action. If possible try and look at it from her stand point. She is probably thinking she's the best friend of the environment and probably has you pegged as someone who defends their kids littering even though you know this isn't the case. She may have no legitimate authority to tell your child to "pick it up". I don't believe uttering that phrase falls into the category of being abusive especailly if she really thought your child threw it there. I think you wuld have a great deal of difficulty proving your child was abused in a court. I think it would be difficult to prove that her intent was to abuse anyone if she has an ogerish personality. Use it as a teaching tool to our child why it's important not to jump to conclusions and what kind of person you don't want to be. The courts are pretty clogged up to and cost tax payers alot of money. I don't think some judges would appreciate their courts being besieged by people every time someoene some adult is a bit grouchy with a child. as Much as you want to protect your child you will never be able to protect them from all of life's negative experiances. Cheers.

Answer 3

I wouldn't say she was committing a crime, she's just a bitter, pain in the neck, mean person. I guess she's one of those women that wants to stick her nose into everyone's business. If she's a teacher and your child is still scared than I would say you should talk to the principal and explain everything. If she's not a teacher than I would become a pain in the neck too by dropping litter in front of her on purpose. LOL, hope it helps. Good luck.

Answer 4

Does she work for the school district? If yes make a complaint with them and have her written up for harassment. She has no right what so ever to yell at a child and to call his mother what she did. People like that don't need to be working with children. If she does work for the district and they don't do anything about it, then go consult an attorney and see what can be done about it.

Good luck.

Answer 5

Irrespective of the relationship between the parties (third party and your child), you as the parent of the child are the legal guardian and are perfectly within your rights to protect your child from abusive behavior. in fact in south African law any child under the age of 7 has no liability (cannot be convicted of a crime) and between the ages of 7 and 14 have limited liability (they cannot be held fully accountable for their actions). incidentally not many people know this but you can lay a charge of verbal assault where someone is being abusive verbally. this woman's response to you i would say falls squarely within the ambit of verbal assault, if you have a witness to corroborate your story you have better chance of success.

Answer 6

Well, there is freedom of speech to consider. Speaking your mind isn't a crime. If she's on school property harassing him ...that's a different matter. I would speak with the school authorities to inform them of the situation and ask why she's on school property. If she continues to harass him, then go directly to the police and have them mediate. Good luck!

Answer 7

I dont know how it stands with the law but I think this woman was very rude and there's no need to swear when there are young children about. I would be really annoyed. Sorry not to be able to help more.

Answer 8

It could be classified as assault but check with your local police department. Some towns have very old laws still on th ebooks and something like this could actually be a crime in your neighborhood.
Good luck!

Answer 9

Whether she has a reason to be there or not, I would definitely bring her to the attention of both the school's principal and the local police authority.
Even if not dangerous, she has no business 'telling off' a child, rather, she should have asked him if he dropped the and would he like to pick it up.

n'est ce pas?

Answer 10

Did this woman have a legal right to be on school property? Was she a teacher or parent? If not, she was trespassing. And if she continues to harass your child or you, then you can call the cops.