Rude old man shouted at 4 year old DS

Well I'm sorry you underestimate your kids so much then. 🤷

10m is not 30 yards.

It's really bizarre that people are victim blaming a 4 year old and making up all sorts of shit to justify the victim blaming.

He was walking on a pavement. He doesn't 'run into other people'. I said he might have been zig-zagging. So what? I often follow grown adults that do that as I'm trying to pass them or they randomly stop dead. I don't then shout at them to get out of my way.

I asked him this morning if the man had said anything before he shouted and my son said he didn't. He just shouted.

My son might not have heard him, of course, but shouting 'get out of my way' at a 4 year old is bonkers behaviour.

If you were wearing headphones and a man shouted at you, would that be okay? Talking on the phone? What about somebody with a hearing impairment?

Personally I’d say that where I live and in my circles we would not have 4 years olds playing outside unsupervised 😳

no significant delays here.

I do sometimes wonder if these posters just failed to notice their child had significant delays to their development and assume all kids are at the same level their own were.

DD is 6 now but at 4 she played outside unsupervised in a group, including on the pavement. I would check on her every 5 minutes or so and could hear her voice from inside. A typical child should be more than capable of that.

Always get some bizarre reactions on MNs, you don’t sound like you were doing anything wrong and the man was completely out of order. Reminds me of a woman having a go at me for my 4 year old singing on a bus, most of the population would find that cute but you’ll always get some that seem to have a hatred of kids and their parents too unless they keep their kids as invisible as possible

10m is not 30 yards.

It's really bizarre that people are victim blaming a 4 year old and making up all sorts of shit to justify the victim blaming.

He was walking on a pavement. He doesn't 'run into other people'. I said he might have been zig-zagging. So what? I often follow grown adults that do that as I'm trying to pass them or they randomly stop dead. I don't then shout at them to get out of my way.

I asked him this morning if the man had said anything before he shouted and my son said he didn't. He just shouted.

My son might not have heard him, of course, but shouting 'get out of my way' at a 4 year old is bonkers behaviour.

If you were wearing headphones and a man shouted at you, would that be okay? Talking on the phone? What about somebody with a hearing impairment?

A 1-2 year old understandable you’re holding their hand but most 4 year olds know not to randomly run out into the road 🤷🏻‍♀️ my 6 year old had finished the 1st year of school and was fluently reading and writing before he turned 5!

10m is not 30 yards.

It's really bizarre that people are victim blaming a 4 year old and making up all sorts of shit to justify the victim blaming.

He was walking on a pavement. He doesn't 'run into other people'. I said he might have been zig-zagging. So what? I often follow grown adults that do that as I'm trying to pass them or they randomly stop dead. I don't then shout at them to get out of my way.

I asked him this morning if the man had said anything before he shouted and my son said he didn't. He just shouted.

My son might not have heard him, of course, but shouting 'get out of my way' at a 4 year old is bonkers behaviour.

If you were wearing headphones and a man shouted at you, would that be okay? Talking on the phone? What about somebody with a hearing impairment?

10m away is too far to grab if he runs in front of a car. So you’re unreasonable for that. But a stranger shouting at a kid is generally a dick move.

And even if case law were the only kind of law I imagine that the actual position is that you can do what you like as long as you don't break any other kinds of law, which extend way beyond causing an obstruction. And in this particular case only the old man knows what the kid was doing because op hasn't got a clue - maybe the kid was causing an obstruction , maybe op was failing to properly supervise their kid (having a 4 year old over 30 yards behind you on a public pavement sounds pretty shit to me). Zig zagging along the pavement and running into other people is definitely not permitted under the law. The particular case you cited was about trespass, which is irrelevant to the case in point. But you go ahead and do whatever the fuck you like and don't worry about the law, morality or common courtesy to other people. I mean I expect you are the most important person on the planet.

10m is not 30 yards.

It's really bizarre that people are victim blaming a 4 year old and making up all sorts of shit to justify the victim blaming.

He was walking on a pavement. He doesn't 'run into other people'. I said he might have been zig-zagging. So what? I often follow grown adults that do that as I'm trying to pass them or they randomly stop dead. I don't then shout at them to get out of my way.

I asked him this morning if the man had said anything before he shouted and my son said he didn't. He just shouted.

My son might not have heard him, of course, but shouting 'get out of my way' at a 4 year old is bonkers behaviour.

If you were wearing headphones and a man shouted at you, would that be okay? Talking on the phone? What about somebody with a hearing impairment?

The case law is very clear that pavements are community areas and can be used for whatever anyone wants as long as it doesn't obstruct them. You are entitled to believe whatever you like but it doesn't change the law.

Would you ask gene kelly that?

The case law is very clear that pavements are community areas and can be used for whatever anyone wants as long as it doesn't obstruct them. You are entitled to believe whatever you like but it doesn't change the law.

Where on earth did you get the idea from that a pavement can be used as you wish?

@ImImmortalNowBabyDoll it surely the fact that you have to apply for things to do on pavements, streets etc show that they are not generally a playground

Not sure how a case about trespass in the 1900s relates to the laws and regulations concerning what is and isn't permitted on a pavement in 2026. 🤔

As Lord Justice Collins said in the 1900 Court of Appeal case (Hickman v Maisey). :
"The right of the public to pass and repass on a highway is not restricted to a mere right to walk along it... A man may stand still for a reasonable time... and a child may play on the highway, and yet not be a trespasser."
The law views a street as a shared community space.

He’s probably 5ft 11in really.

6'1 isn't 'big'.