If you saw someone strike their child in public would you feel compelled to do something?

Question

When I say strike I mean hit in the head or face. Not spanked on the butt.

Answer 1

If its the mother no problems

If its the father and his son no problems

If its the father and his daughter...

Answer 2

if i see anyone hit their child in the face or head, yes, i will say something. not only will i say something, i will call the police.

to all you idiots citing "discipline: hitting someone in the face is NOT the same as popping them on the behind.

ryde on: please, never have children.

Answer 3

The problem is that if it is truly child abuse, "doing something" may even make it worse for the child. An abusive parent may blame the child for a concerned onlooker's active intervention and take it out on them harder at home afterwards. What I usually do is to look at the parent very hard, and they usually stop in embarrassment at having been caught losing it in public. If they didn't stop, or reacted belligerently, I would probably attempt to jot down their license number and call children's services on them. The only real recourse society has in such cases to remove the child from the home, and yet the foster care system can be even worse. If there is a good solution to this problem, I don't know what it is.

Answer 4

What kind of question is this? If I slapped you in the head would someone call the police? You really would need to know a lot more about the situation and since you probably didn't see the things before it, how could you make that judgement? This comes down to a question of is this abusive behavior or is this discipline? Chances are you didn't see the kid slap mom/dad when they told him or her that she could not have the toy/candy etc. You also didn't see that kid slap his brother or sister either but mom/dad did and is now asking jr. if he liked the way that felt. Maybe the kid did nothing and mom/dad have lost thier mind and are going to start public beatings so that all the strangers in the world can police their activities and send them to jail so their kid will end up in foster care because someone didn't know what was happening! You can't ask this question and expect people to answer it honestly because they don't know the whole story. Besides, you are looking for an answer...and the only one you will like is the one that matches the way YOU feel.

Answer 5

As long as it was an open handed strike and the kid deserved it, that's fine.

Lack of discipline is the problem with kids nowadays.  Fixing that is a good thing.

If it was a punch or kick to the head, yeah, that's going too far.  Best to call the police in that case.

Answer 6

Its a difference between child abuse and  discipline...we have lost sight of it..these children are running a muck...what happen to switches , belts, intimidation....they dont respect the elders, the senoirs, the teachers, the police..but then we complain about the high youth violence.  You wanna see the result of the non-discipline actionss we have taken out the school and community...Go visit the city juvenile detention center...and ask how many are here waiting to tried as an adult for their crimes....I wasnt trying to insult anyone but we have lost sight of our children..spare the rod spoil the child...We were all kids at one time..we all know what we do as children!!!!!

Answer 7

I would definitely feel that way, but I don't know if I'd be the one to do something about it, unless it escalated into a full-scale one-sided brawl.

Answer 8

It's not my business!

Answer 9

If it's just a light pop designed to get their attention, I wouldn't really approve of it, but I'd let it go.  If it was a violent slap or especially anything harder than that, I'd definitely at least ask what they think they're doing.  I'd decide whether to call the police after that.  I think I would call the police in most cases.

Answer 10

h**l. Yes.

As a matter of fact if I was close enough I would grab the person's arm and say " do you really think it is necessary to strike this child across the face like that? how would you like it if someone 3 times your size hit you across the face really hard? Find a better way to discipline your kid...or I will report you for child abuse"

I know kids can be obnoxious....lord knows i was a handful...but it is never EVER necessary to strike a child across the face as hard as you can.

Im appalled that so many ppl wouldnt do anything at all.

and ppl wonder why there is so much d**n child abuse.

bubba...thank you from the bottom of my heart. there should be more ppl like you...

Answer 11

Well...it would depend.

I certainly know what you mean - I guess it would depend if it was isolated or continued.

If it was one slap - I mean, it's not nice anywhere but the butt, but still - if just one...I'd be inclined to keep out (or risk being told what to do, where to go or have them take it up with me too)

But I mean if they were truly beating them up then might - either ring the cops or perhaps see if I can calm them...depending. Especially if it was a younger kid - someone like a 13 year old or so could probably fight back or run off...

Approve or not though its a hard one - what one person sees as excessive another sees as punishment...

I mean, I got the odd slap on the butt when I was young - but my girlfriend was saying recently once when she was young her father thought it appropriate to literally pick her up and throw her into the car - and although in hindsight she said it was excessive, in her family it was seen as acceptable...

So there it becomes an attitude issue.

Answer 12

Spanking is discipline, which is different than abuse. Striking a child in the head or the face is abuse, not discipline.

I would feel compelled to walk over and strike that person in the head or the face and say "Hurts, doesn't it?"

Don't know if I would actually do it, but I'd like to think I would.

Answer 13

Yes and I might call the cops

Answer 14

It depends on the situation and there are factors with the hit. If the kid is being annoying and it is an open handed slap, no, I won't do anything. If the kid gets punched or isn't doing anything and gets slapped, I would step in and say something or just kick the sh*t out of them. If they want to hit somebody it should be somebody that can defend themselves.

Answer 15

Yes, I would thank them for shutting up their screaming brat while I tried to eat my dinner or watch the movie ,or ,or ,or.

This day and age of "Time Outs" is bullshit!  bad behavior should have consequnces.

Answer 16

no

Answer 17

I call the authorities and/or intervene whenever I see assault being committed.

People are not answering this question, but instead trying to debate whether or not it is okay to spank a child. I thinking spanking children is a stupid idea about 95% of the time, but disciplining children is a matter for parents to handle how they feel is best.

But you are describing abuse. If I see somebody abusing a child, or anybody, it is my business and I will address it.

Answer 18

I wouldn't do anything to their face but I'd probably contact security if it got too out of hand.

Answer 19

If the child had lots of scares on him or her and that was done then I would have to do something. But if the child looks perfectly normal then maybe the parent punishes in that way but she would need to stop. But anyway a parent would have to be reported even if the kid had scars or not.