Should I Report this as Child Abuse??? Who can I Tell?

Question

Sunday morning at church, there were 4 teenage girls and a teenage guy sitting in front of me. They had this adorable little baby with them, and they were passing her from one person to the next. Anyway, you know how some parents will gently bounce a baby in their arms, etc? Well, they were totally shaking her, her neck snapping around every which way and I was afraid for her safety. They were pulling this poor baby's ears and holding her all wrong! (THis was a young baby.) I was sure she was going to slip out and fall! And when she cried, they paid no attention at ALL! AHH!! I was about to go get their names or look at their license plate, but they ran out before church had ended. I am pretty sure they will be back next week. What shall I do??? I am scared for the health of this little baby girl.

Answer 1

Well, I'd confront them first (nicely) and tell them how they might be hurting the baby. If they argue, or don't do anything...ask the secretary their names. You could turn them in to Child Services.

Answer 2

LISTEN U WERENT THAT CONCERNED BECUZ U DIDNT SAY ANYTHING WHILE IT WAS GOING ON BUT IF U CARE NOW U SHOULD CALL DYFS I DONT KNOW WHAT STATE U LIVE IN BUT THERE HAS TO BE SOME KINDA CHILD PROTECTVE SERVISES THERE OR JUST TELL UR PARENTS SINCE UR JUST A LITTLE GIRL

Answer 3

Call Social Services and see if you can get a case worker to attend services at your church this week.

Answer 4

i work at a social services.

im not sure what state you are in or what your laws are..

but people, most likely these teenagers are not going to any juvenile center for this. depending on whether or not one of them was the baby's parent.

considering that you are 13, you need to have an adult with you next time at church and watch them again, closely.

if they are indeed being so careless with this baby..please! DO NOT hesitate to call social services.

tell your parents, get the family's name...

if they truly are being this careless you dont need to wait around.

Answer 5

if its the way your telling it yes you should but if you only 13 tell an adult and let  them call or see for themselves,the baby shouldnt be with ppl like that .

Answer 6

yes you should take action. even if it is an anonymous tip to social services about the wellbeing of the child. the scenarios appears like the typical babies having babies era that we are in. (teenage parents). the wellbeing of the child is more important than anything. I will warn you to make sure you have seen this occurence more than once.

Next time service is going on, act as though you have to record the service for a project on religion. If the act is continuing focus on them for a second in the video then go back to focusing on service. You will have evidence when you present your case to social services or to an authority figure. The worse thing to do is to report something without any evidence, especially when it involves a baby. Or mother and child relationship.

Answer 7

call 311 or 411 to report things like that

Answer 8

ok first ask ur mom if they are doin it wrong cuz shes a mom she knows best or tell them hey dumbass u shakin ur baby

i mean i wasnt there so i wuldnt kno how much they shook it but yea go ahead get the licese plate number or ask ppl around u if wat ther doin is bad if they say yes jus call the cops and say i think these guys b abusin the kid give the licesense plate and voila!

Answer 9

Yes, they are mean jerks who might hurt a poor little baby. Maybe they were dropped on their heads at birth and are now stupid, so that is how they act. Just a wild guess.

Answer 10

Definitely report them even though it wont do any good.

Answer 11

I would if they were truly shaking the baby in a dangerous way. Its hard to know if this was one of their babies or a little sibling, but I would first talk to your pastor and see if he knows who they are and then call CPS.

Answer 12

call CPS. period. you can describe the people, and get the workers to be there next sunday. you are right to be concerned

Answer 13

i would if u feel like they were in the wrong yes definitely.  get their names and report it to child services

Answer 14

I had a similar thing happen several years ago and I know how you feel. Sometimes you see things potentially harmful to an innocent child and KNOW in your gut that something must be said:

My daughter (about age 6 at the time) and I were driving home. About 2 blocks away from home we saw a young girl (maybe 10) riding her bike 1 handed while holding a baby (maybe 6-8 months) in the other arm. Neither had helmets on. We got to our driveway and I felt a NEED to say something. So we walked back in their direction.  In a polite way I told the girl and her dad, who was sitting nearby watching, how much that scared me and I was worried about the safety of the baby. That's all I said and the dad scolded his 10 year old in front of me. The 10 year old said "But dad, you sat there and watched me do it!" Then we left.

I will never regret having said something and it was a good lesson for my daughter to learn about speaking up when you see someone doing something potentially harmful to a child.

Keep an eye on them next week.

Answer 15

I would suggest that you contact your pastor and tell him of your concerns. (Since your parents are away and you are only a minor yourself) He/She may know more of the situation than you do and may be able to intervene. Also, it sounds like young, unknowing parents... which is not an excuse, but rather to say that they may need some sort of intervention such as parenting classes or something. I would ask that the pastor step in first... maybe they just don't know any better. From there the pastor should know who to contact for more help.

Good luck and God Bless!

Answer 16

Immediately report this as child abuse.  Those kids need to go to juvenile detention and should be sterilized.

Answer 17

Definitely, its possible they are members of your church. I'm not sure of your age so maybe talk to your adult Sunday school teacher or youth group counselor for advice

Answer 18

You need to call CPS!

Even if you were wrong- what you described sounds WRONG, and they will put a case worker on the case to check it all out.

You may talk with the pastor about it. See if he knows the people.....

but for sure, call CPS, you may be saving a childs life

Answer 19

are you a parent?

i have no idea why one would pull a baby's ears - that's probably a little off to me.

first time parents, esp. teenagers, (if they are parents and not relatives of this child) often do hold babies "wrong," it will never hurt to step in and ask if you can hold her to hopefully show them how to support a child... or politely correct them.

parenting is trial and error - so for a teenage new mom, maybe it would have been best just to say something instead of try to report it - they probably just dont know what they're doing and need some help - not police charges.

you are 13. hmm.  speak to an adult if you see them at church next week.  maybe they will observe the same behavior.  often times my son likes to be bounced - he likes to roughhouse so to someone who has never had a child it may look a little too rough or like he's being shaken, but he's not.  for a child to be "shaken" in the "do not shake a baby" way it is when their head moves back and forward - like where their chin touches their chest and then the back of their head/neck touches their back - quick and scary.  lots of babies like to be bounced and rocked in ways that make their head move, but not in that way, and not in a damaging dangerous way.

well- if the baby was being shaken in that way- you need to report it immediately.  it's ok to report it later, but it wont help the child.  if you see it happen again, in the way where the baby's head is moving so fast and back and forward like that, you need to say something.  if it did happen like that, some adult at your church should have said something.  they say not to shake babies because it can damage their brain and/or kill them.  If you have a reason to believe a child is being  abused, especially a baby, you need to report it right then and there.  Did your parents or adults sit with you at church? did they see this too?  Someone should have said something if it happened like that.

Answer 20

talk to the pastor first. Make him aware of the situation.  He may suggest that the baby go to the nursery during service.  

Unless the people were endangering the baby's life, there isn't much you can do. Kids are pretty tough.  They Have to be.  

Or you can make friends and offer to hold the baby during service.