When I came around to the side of the car I saw a little girl approx. 2 years old strapped into her car seat screaming her little lungs out. As I stepped in to say something the mother went postal on me. Now I don't know if I made matters better or worse for that little girl. At least it got her to stop hitting her child but I'm not sure if anything I said even made a difference. How would you have handled this situation?
2007-04-06 06:42:34 · 24 answers · asked by seashell 6 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Parenting
I guess it depends on how hard she was hitting her child. I know if my son isn't listening to me I give him a little tap, just enough to let him know to listen and no where near enough to leave any kind of mark. If it was too much then I would have talked to a security person and gotten a plate number. If her daughter had signs of serious abuse (black eyes or big bruises different ages everywhere) then I would have called CPS right away with the plate number.
2007-04-06 06:48:49 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
911, take the license plate number and call the Department of Health and Human Services!
There's a HUGE difference between spank and abuse. Spanking is NEVER done out of anger or in an angry manner. Spanking is always on the rear or the back of the thigh - nowhere else. So, IMO, this can't be called spanking at all.
In a less severe situation, it's best to compliment the parent on how beautiful (smart, tall, etc)the child is. It helps the parent remember good thoughts and appreciate the child. Plus, the child gets a much needed emotional boost. If it's a good parent having a HORRIBLE day, it'll turn things around. If it's worse than that, you'll know to call authorities for the child's sake.
2007-04-06 06:47:30 · answer #2 · answered by buterfly_2_lovely 4 · 4⤊ 1⤋
You should have written down her license plate number and I would go so far as to go back to the store and have them scan the parking lot camars about that time, see if you can locate the car and zoom in on the plate number. She obviously has problems of many sorts and she will ruin her childs life if she hasn't already. The hitting may even be on camara for proof. I would do that and then call child services with the info. Dont leave it up to them to do the research, they are very busy (unfortuantly) and they just don't have the time. Good luck ( This is all under the assumption that it was abusive actions, the way you describe it, it was)
2007-04-06 06:49:13 · answer #3 · answered by Barbara C 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
You did the right thing, after that, I would have got a description of the mother the car and the license plates, or gathered all the information you could in what little time you had to save this child!
Then I would have called on my cell phone the police and given them a description, if you did not have a cell phone, I would have went back into Wal-Mart and given the people at the front desk all the details of what happened! And I would have them call the police and I would have waited until the cops came and I would have given them my statement.
I would have done anything in my power to protect that innocent one, and it just makes me sick to my stomach that this is going around, and she calls herself a parent!
2007-04-06 07:02:31 · answer #4 · answered by carriegreen13 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I would have called the police.
I admit, I don't have kids, but if im out with my little cousin, who is five, and he acts up, the only way to make him stop is a little smack, because telling a five year old to be quite or not run around is like telling someone not to breathe:P
But no way is repeatedly smacking a child in public normal. And you said she was in a car seat? What reason does someone have to hit a child that can't even move?
2007-04-06 06:57:11 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
I would not have done anything unless it looked like all out child abuse I mean punching and what not, like a few people have said some people choose to spank their children. I myself have spanked my child and it too can look like child abuse but it may have been that the child misbehaved and that the mother thought she was doing the right thing, don't feel guilty that you did nothing because if it was me and my child and I spanked him/her and someone came in and said that I was doing something like abusing my kid I would go postal so it may have been in your best interest to do nothing.
2007-04-06 06:56:47 · answer #6 · answered by Ms. Lady 1 · 3⤊ 0⤋
I had similiar situation, yet in a restraunt. I regret not calling social services, yet it is true that social services rarely goes into detail about this stuff as kids are always being brought back into the same situation when courts give back custody....
It is good to speak your mind. It allows the child to know someone does care.
I don't think it is right to slap a 2 year old. Others say mind our own business as they do believe it is right. Its one of those battles.
2007-04-06 06:58:12 · answer #7 · answered by Mutchkin 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
whoa, that is really crazy. i saw on the news that a helicopter caught footage of a mother smacking a kid strapped into its seat at their own home!! it gave a number on TV that if you witness abuse by a mother to a child, you should report it.
yeah, you should report it and record everything you saw (license plate #, time of abuse, how the mother looked like when she was hitting the child).
you shouldve recorded EVERYTHING and ran into the Wal-Mart, get security out in the parking lot, and arrest the mother of child abuse.
2007-04-06 07:03:30 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
No. If you're going to creep around in the Walmart parking lot, you have to wear pants.
2016-05-18 21:54:20 · answer #9 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Spanking is not wrong. If the child was misbehaving a swat or 2 might have been in order. Now if the woman was beating the child you should have gone to get the security guard.
2007-04-06 06:48:38 · answer #10 · answered by tessasmomy 5 · 8⤊ 1⤋