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| Author |
Message |
carson
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The screaming child
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Jun 29 06:15 UTC 1994 |
(you're out for a lovely walk with your significant other through a
gorgeous park. While walking, you hear a mother and child. The child is in
tears and screaming it's head off. All you see is the mother striking the
child in a vain attempt to get it to shut up.)
(do you interfere at all?)
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| 20 responses total. |
canis
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response 1 of 20:
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Jun 29 06:17 UTC 1994 |
no it would be no different then if they were at home, in most cases. If you
see the mother violently shaking the child, or smacking it with something large
like a big tree branch then you interfere
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scg
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response 2 of 20:
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Jun 29 06:37 UTC 1994 |
I would feel very guilty about not interfering, but whether I actually
would would depend on how brave I was feeling. A lot of the time I
wouldn't, just because I wouldn't have the guts. But I would also feel
very guilty about it later, knowint that I had let the child suffer
needlessly. Then again, the times when I don't feel confident enough to
interfere it might be better not to, because done wrong, an interference
in that situation might make the situation worse.
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omni
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response 3 of 20:
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Jun 29 19:30 UTC 1994 |
find a phone and call the cops. There is no reason for any parent to
hit a child. Hitting is abuse, and the child is better off in a foster
family, than in a situation where he/she is being smacked for expressing
emotion. I would also see to it that the parent was prosecuted to the
fullest limits of the law.
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dang
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response 4 of 20:
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Jun 29 21:27 UTC 1994 |
no, i wouldn't interere. it's their business. now if the mother was
actually hurting the child, that would be a different matter...
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popcorn
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response 5 of 20:
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Jul 1 12:22 UTC 1994 |
This response has been erased.
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kimba
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response 6 of 20:
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Jul 1 17:53 UTC 1994 |
This is a perfect example of how out of hand this type of situation is right
now. Some children deserve (and need) a small spank or slap of the wrist!
If I felt the child was not in any severe danger, no I would not interfere.
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aruba
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response 7 of 20:
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Jul 3 00:49 UTC 1994 |
I was in this situation a number of years ago. I was with my parents,
and none of us did anything, but we were all horrified, and have never
returned to the place where it happened. It has stuck with me as a very
painful memory.
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gracel
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response 8 of 20:
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Jul 3 19:27 UTC 1994 |
I might try to think of something to say to the mother,
expressing sympathy with her feelings (especially if it's a
toddler or preschool-age child). Both parties are probably
very frustrated, and a brief interlude might help to give
somebody's thoughts a different direction.
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vishnu
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response 9 of 20:
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Jul 12 08:22 UTC 1994 |
If I thought the child was being seriously hurt, I'd call
the authorities .... if i didn't think the child was being
hurt a lot physically, I would just maybe say something to
the parent about alternative ways to enforce things...
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y
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response 10 of 20:
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Aug 5 06:07 UTC 1994 |
yes
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morgayn
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response 11 of 20:
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Dec 6 15:32 UTC 1994 |
I do not believe I would interfere unless I saw the mother strike the child
with anything other than her open hand. If I saw her strike the child with her
fist, or I noticed that the child had bruises or seemed to be battered, then I
would have no moral choice than to interefere. Sometimes new mothers become
frustrated when a child screams in public, and perhaps she had lost her wits.
But then the question arises, does anyone have a right or a justifiable reason
to strike a child?
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peacefrg
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response 12 of 20:
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Dec 8 02:33 UTC 1994 |
I would call the police and follow the women until they came.
There is no reason for child abuse.
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fraizer
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response 13 of 20:
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Dec 9 16:26 UTC 1994 |
I agree. Child abuse is unexcusable.
And I would absolutely interfere. It *is* my business when a
defenseless child is being beaten in front of me.
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brighn
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response 14 of 20:
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Dec 9 23:06 UTC 1994 |
How about if it was one little smack on the butt? Would you intere
fere then?
Two smacks? Three?
How about just an insult... "You're such a loser, why can't you do anything
right...?"
And why can't i get up the courage to interfere in those situations where
I probably should? :(
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fraizer
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response 15 of 20:
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Dec 10 20:55 UTC 1994 |
As for the little smack on the butt,I probably wouldn't interfere, but
repeated beating is a different story.
And as for the "just an insult" I would interfere. There's no reason to
say something like that to a child.
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popcorn
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response 16 of 20:
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Dec 11 18:03 UTC 1994 |
This response has been erased.
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fraizer
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response 17 of 20:
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Dec 12 21:59 UTC 1994 |
Well, I would have to agree that being shot would be a definite down side.
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ewhisam
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response 18 of 20:
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Dec 27 23:08 UTC 1995 |
Interfere tactfully, ask questions about childs condition and/or health, make
known that ambulance or police may be called if needed. Then make decision
about 911
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diznave
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response 19 of 20:
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Nov 9 06:16 UTC 1997 |
I would walk up to the parent and stare at them with an unkind look on my
face. If they asked me to stop glaring at them, I would tell them I have as
much right to get close to someone and glare at them as they have to hit their
child. If they ignored me, and continued hitting their child, I would cough
very loudly, until they stopped hitting their child and started paying
attention to me.
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moonowl
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response 20 of 20:
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Nov 18 14:19 UTC 1997 |
I would casually walk in the direct of the mother, probably smiling. Then I
would say something like "Crying kids can really taz your patients, can't
they?" and smile again. Then I would look at the child and say "what's the
matter bubu? having a bad day?" and look to see if the kid is hurt. Going from
there the main hope is to get mom out of her narrow vision, to take a breath
if you will and to give the kid some other imput to think over. Tends to work
most of the time. If mom gets lippy, then I usually chew her a new asshole
and tell her what a sickness abuse is. That's a lot of fun, geeze...
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