New neighbors- small children- SCREAM and CRY an abnormal amount - what would YOU do?

Question

There's also a lot of yelling in this house, and a father who got out of jail a few weeks ago. Please answer honestly.

Steffers27...If I weren't worried about the kids I wouldn't have asked this...

Answer 1

Please call child protective services...the children have no one fighting for them. If not you then who?

Answer 2

There may be a problem, but there could also be reasonable explanations. The children may be colicky. The family may be having trouble adjusting to the move. As far as the jail it may be a minor offense or maybe the family was poor and the father was stealing to put food on the table. I am not making excuses. I am just saying that there is not enough information to draw an accurate conclusion. The possibilities are just too numerous. You could start by being the first to welcome your new neighbors to the neighborhood. Take over a plate of cookies or brownies or something and invite Mom or Dad over for tea or coffee or something. Make sure that Mom/Dad know that the kids are welcome to this gathering. You will get to know your neighbors. If there is a reasonable explanation for the events they will produce themselves naturally and if your neighbors are just having a rough patch they will appreciate a friendly face and if not something may need to be done. It is better to be safe than sorry. If everything turns out to be OK, you've made a new friend and if not the course of action will be clear.

Answer 3

Well there is a lot of screaming from my house too...but my kids are only 16 months apart...2 and 3 and fight constantly...so it's not always an abusive situation.

As far as the father is concerned..what was he in jail for. Have you seen any bruises on the kids.....do they shy away from people a lot. Do the parents ever let them out to play. Do they look clean, bathed, and fed when you do see them.

Screaming and shouting isn't enought to draw suspicion...you should take a look at the whole picture and your gut will tell if something is wrong.

Answer 4

I feel for you... but there's not too much you should do.

Most small kids scream and cry, there's nothing you can do about that. The good thing is they don't stay small, and the screaming usually tapers off.

If the parents' yelling goes past 10pm, you can call the cops. ---But make very sure that they can't prove it's you that called, and deny it if anyone asks.

The last thing you'd want to do, is to poke your nose into an already violent situation between the mother and father. If the guy's been to jail already, he has nothing to lose by turning his anger on you.

Answer 5

Ok, I wouldn't ASSUME first of all. My neighbors have small children who always cry and yell.. and it's not because they're being abused.. the children are just spoiled little brats. Second.. the fact that the father has recently gotten out of jail, proves nothing. So, just try to keep out of their business and IF you happen to see anything at all, then you should maybe phone child services.. but honestly, I don't think you should assume, because if you do, you might end up doing more damage than anything else. Only do things you KNOW for sure will help.

Answer 6

Screaming and Crying is not, by iteself, abnormal. Spoiled little rich kids scream and cry, and no one thinks its child abuse.

Dad just got out of jail--good for him. You don't say whether he was incarcerated for a violent crime, for driving drunk, or for having too many bounced checks. Corporate embezzlers spend time in jail, and no one thinks thier kids are gonna get beaten...

Unless you have evidence that the kids are being abused, then you should let this family work out their own problems.

If you see bruises, burn marks, or dirty, uncared-for kids, then by all means call child protective services.

Answer 7

Well if you call the police then it is eventually going to upset the neighbor and they will get mad at everyone. So I would call The Child Welfare Services Dept and have them come out and take a look around and then it is less obvious who called them and they might not take it out on everyone. Or if the kid's go to school you could call the school nurse and have her look for bruises and mention the yelling etc.

Answer 8

i would pay close attention to what is going on there. there could be some issues that are not safe for the kids there. if you suspect something, call the police. it could be domestic violence or anything. the town or city in which you live should have a website for criminal records. they should be able to be viewed free. if you know his first and last name, you can find out what all he has been involved in. that should give you some idea as to what to watch for. hope this helps and no harm is being done to anyone. good luck.

Answer 9

Call Social Services or Health and Human Resources and report them for possible child abuse. Even if they are just yelling it is still a form of abuse and they could offer them counsiling on how to disaplin their children with scaring them emotionally. When you call you can remain enonomous (sp?) and just give them details of what you saw/heard. It could go beyond yelling of left alone, do something for those kids.

Answer 10

Call the cops. You can't afford to be wrong in this case. I'd rather have the embarrassment of calling the cops over an argument over who's going to wash the dishes than the shame of knowing you could have saved a life and chose to sit by.

Answer 11

If I thought the children were being hurt, I'd call Child Protective Services.