I saw a child being verbally abused at disneyland 6 days ago but its still bothering me?

Question

My family and I had went to Disneyland on the 27th of August to celebrate early 3 days before my nephew's birthday he was turning 7.

Well my family and I had sat down to watch the parade that they have at Disneyland with all the floats that pass, with the people singing and dancing.

And while we were waiting, there was this man who kept yelling at his little girl, she was sitting in a chair, and she was trying to sit up to see and he kept yelling at her in front of everyone "SIT DOWN!!" "I SAID SIT DOWN NOW!!" "SIT DOWN OR I'LL HIT YOU!" and he grabbed her leg and shoved it into the chair forcing her to sit down, the little girl who looked about 4 or 5 years old, started crying, she even looked over at me one time, and he kept yelling at her to sit down, even though it was none of my business, it was making me so mad, I can't stand to see a child be mistreated, all the little girl wanted to do was sit up so she could see the parade, even though it hadn't started yet, but the workers were getting everything ready and she just wanted to see, and he kept yelling at her every time, "I SAID SIT DOWN!! OR I'LL HIT YOU!!"

he had an accent like that of a german, he was a white man, with little to no hair, that was kind kind of white maybe from his age, in which he looked to be in his 40's maybe early 50's, he had blue eyes, and looked mean, I don't know if he was the father of the little girl, because a woman had come and sat down next to them, but she was an asian woman, but the little girl called her mommy, she was happy to see her and said "Mommy!" the little girl had almost shoulder length hair, and it was brown and curly, she didn't look asian herself, I don't remember the color of her eyes, but I think they were brown. Also another man had come with the mother and he to was asian, he had picked up the little girl and was holding her while standing next to the mom, the little girl seemed happy about being with them, but then after awhile he put her back down into the chair, and the white man continued yelling at her again, I kept looking over and said "You don't threaten a child like that, she's just a little girl! I don't care who you are, you never treat a child that way!" and he glared at me, his eyes looked so angry, he kept staring at me throughout the parade and I got a bad vibe from him, other people were witnessing him yelling at the child but no one did anything but I heard a few people make comments, saying, "that man keeps screaming at his kid, what an**hole." other people who were sitting across from us on the other side of the street were staring, and shaking their heads, others just kept staring at the man and the little girl, but did nothing, my sister even noticed how mean this man was being, she said he looked crazy, after I had made the comment, he stopped yelling at her, and sat quietly watching when the parade started, but kept glaring over at me, but after about 6 minutes or so, he started up again, the mother said something that time, which I'm not clear on what she said, but she said something to the man and he stopped again for a little bit, he still kept looking over at me still glaring, when the little girl started to get up again, and he started yelling at her again, I'm not exactly sure what he said, but he did say "SIT DOWN!!, YOU STAY SITTING DOWN OR." now it sounded like he was saying "OR I'LL F*CK YOU UP!." or he could have been saying "OR I'LL BACK YOU UP" since she was in the chair, he could have meant he'll back her up meaning taking the chair away and they'll leave, but that part was not clear to me, but he said it to her about 3 times, when the parade was over the mother left the little girl with the white man and walked away with the other guy she came with.

My sister and I were watching when the white man grabbed the little girls arm and was pulling her into one of the little candy stores they had, the little girl was trying to pull away, she acted as if she didn't want to go with him she started crying and kept saying "No!, no!" and he was yelling "COME ON!" and he saw me watching and stared at me again with a glare and then went into the store.

I can't help but think if the man treats that little girl like that in public, imagine what its like for her when she's at home with him.

I did have a 1-800-4 A Child number in my phone, but didn't know if I should call or not, now again I know I don't know these people, but just sitting there watching him constantly yell at her, making her cry, and threatening to hit her if she didn't stay sitting made my blood boil, I did walk by him once and told him "Calm down, she's just a little girl, you don't need to threaten her like that." he turned around and looked angrily at me, but never said anything to me.

This was on the 27th but yet it still bothers me, I keep thinking about it, and hope the little girl is okay.

I know a lot of little kids act out, and its difficult to control them at times, and some paren

Answer 1

I think I would have reported him to the grounds police.

Your story bothers me also, and I wasn't even there.

Answer 2

Well considering you already have 18004ACHILD in your phone you sound like an overly sensitive women when it comes to child discipline.

Toddlers can be very stubborn and hard headed. Not all toddlers can have their parents sweet talk them into doing something.

Parents who let their children get away with stuff throughout their young years are the brats that you see in the super markets screaming, "I WANT THIS AND I WANT THAT."

I dont feel that this man was in the wrong. It was his personal dicision on how to dicapline the child. He did not hit her or throw her around. He was more verbal then what your used to so it probably came to a shock to you.

Answer 3

I would say something to DSS because personally my dad is just like that, then when I turned 15 he went so far he got arrestted with over a dozen eye witnesses hitting and kicking me after I fell on the ground. Even if the investigation comes up with nothing, at least I may have prevented something terrible. This was YEARS ago in case anyone was wondering.

He had to attend anger management and today he is MILDER.

At that time if I were you, and the man WASNT the dad I would have definately went to the workers to call the authorities.

Answer 4

Get over it.  

Answer 5

I totally know how you feel. It is disturbing. Its a hard call because spending time at a busy place like Disneyland can be very stressful but in my head I'm always thinking... "Jeez.. if they treat their kids like that in front of people what do they do to them at home?"

You probably could have said something to security at Disneyland.

Sometimes you can even confront them (NOT always a good idea.. some parents are downright violent toward anyone).

You could always stand their and give them the good old fashioned dirty look.. also helpful if you're with a large group of people to give them the same look.

I feel for you. If something like this happens again you can report. I think its usually better to report than not even if they're not horrible people but just having a horrible day. Most likely it was just parents over reacting but I am bothered by the way some people talk to their kids. On the other hand I'm also bothered by parents who do nothing to control their kids' bad behavior.

But there is never an excuse to publicly humiliate your child, threaten or be verbally abusive in general.

Answer 6

Not taking action on behalf of a child is the same as saying it's ok and that you approve of the behavior.

Keep your best judgment because all parents have difficult times with their kids while in public. However, when a situation seems overly hostile or the child might be in serious danger when out of the public eye then take action by notifying someone with appropriate authority who can mediate the situation.

Answer 7

Are you sure you didn't flash back to the 70's because I'm pretty sure that was ME & my DAD.  German, white hair, blue eyes, gave me a chill.

As you can already see his bark is worse than his bite.  At least when it comes to adults.  Men like that are power hungry & children are weak.  When an adult confronts them they usually back down.  I wish I could find another word for p*ssy but I can't.

This might sound weird but you shouldn't intervene unless you're willing to take it to another level.  If you just want to let the guy know that you disapprove you're more than likely going to p**s him off further & make his temper even worse.  A guy like that doesn't need fuel for his fire.  I'm more inclined to hit him in the back of his head while he's watching the parade & just disappear.  But I'm a devious b*tch.  

Answer 8

its called child discipline....at parts of the story.....it seemed a little exaggerated. When he meant hit...he probably meant spank and its hard to raise a child at that age...hes a father and maybe she didn't have a mother....and fathers don't know as much as the mom about raising children. the reason he was yelling at her is because maybe she wasn't listening to him (and he has been at disney land all day...and that's harsh on parents) and he was trying to teach her a lesson. and you shouldn't have gone over there! its disrespectful. its his business, not yours!! get over this...its been along time since then and the girl is probably fine!!