to have rung the police?

[indiewitch]

Had an incident in the local park today, two older (probably about 10) boys tried to walk my two year old away from me. It's happened before and they're not trying to play with her, they're trying to lead her away. I just snapped. Shouted at them and they walked away and I rang the police. Have I over-reacted?

look if someone allegedly nefarious kids hanging in my park id avoid it

serious question on 3rd alleged unsettling incident within park with same 10yo id certainly be giving it a body swerve

I think you did the right thing. This sounds really disturbing actually. Why would they want to lead a 2 yo away like that?

Agree that you should follow up with a call and find out what their response was.

You have every right to play there, they shouldn't be bothering your little girl.

I think you did the right thing.

I wish I had done something when a couple of kids behaved very weirdly with my ds last year.

Girl about 11, brother about 6 - had seen them before and noticed them because the girl was very confrontational with the adults in the park - very odd, never really seen anything like it. And the boy was just a bit wild.

They had tried to get ds - 3 at the time - to play with them but when he did they would tell him to go away, then come back for him again til I asked them just to leave him alone as they were clearly on the wind-up.

Next time they did similar - I kept an eye as they encouraged ds to go to the other side of the play[ark (I let them cos I knew I could follow and I really wanted to know what they were up to - suppose I wanted a definitive reason to tell them to piss off or speak to the mother) Anyway, once they thought they were out of my earshot the girl told the boy to "quickly get the sticks - I'll hit him then you hit him"
I really wasnt expecting anything as cold and nasty as that - quickly grabbed ds and told them if they so much as looked at any of the kids in the park in the wrong way they'd be in serious trouble. The boy atsrted crying and the girl called me a fucking cunt.
Went to the mother (who was not actually in the playpark but in the park iyswim - she rolled her eyes, said "oh ffs - ALRIGHT... we're going anyway!"

I felt really disturbed by it - felt a bit teary so just went home. And I feel utterly crap that I didnt do something - dont know what exactly but I really should have. I decided after the event that if I saw them again I would talk to the girl and find out which school she went to and perhaps call them but I never saw them again.

So, yes, you did the right thing

- falling!

You did do something - you confronted the child, and for all her bravado, she might think twice in future

Thanks hmc, but there was actually a LOT more to it - I definitely didn't do enough

Falling, you did all you could at the time. That is all any of us could do.

FallingWithStyle at what you heard the young girl say, and double shock at the Mothers reaction (or lack of)!
indiewitch YANBU, I would have done the same, I hope the police take it seriously, I would keep ringing them to ask how their enquiries are going.
Those boys sound odd at best, or downright dangerous.
I expect that you have read FallingWithStyles experience by now. Show it to your DH. Good luck.

Do you know I don't think anyone was COMPARING this with Jamie Bulger - just pointing out that that was why it isn't unreasonable to be concerned. Fallingwithstyles experience explains exactly why even motives far short of this could be pretty horrendous. Of course the children might have just been wanting to play but from the op it doesn't sound like it. None of us were there except the op and her dh on a couple of the occasions - fair to trust their judgement of the situation I think.

I think the James Bulger situation is relevant because I think befor this noone would have thought it was possible for 10 year olds in this situation to be planning anything sinister - they must just be playing they are only children. It was the age of the perpetrators that made it so shocking. So it has made us all a bit more wary thats all.

"I think the James Bulger situation is relevant because I think befor this noone would have thought it was possible for 10 year olds in this situation to be planning anything sinister"

Nonsense - what about Mary Bell (to pick one example out of the air)?

It's still overdramatising what could be a perfectly normal situation to bring this sensational case up.

But OP I think you did the right thing. If these kids were planning to freak your daughter out a visit from the police may make them think on it. Or not. I don't know how the minds of slightly weird kids work.

I find it very sinister that a male police officer would say that it's because your 2 yr old daughter is 'so pretty' that boys of a sexual age would try to lure her away? Is it against the law to kick a policeman in the balls? I would have done.

I would take this seriously!!!!!!!!!!! make a formal complaint to the police they will be able to track down the officer who made those smallminded comments through you incident number/address etc. seems a tad bit disturbing. However i would not take my child back to that park!!!!!!!!!

ps it may be innocent but who knows!!!!!!!!!

alicet has said everything I wanted to say.

The policeman saying that the children are too young to remember JB - that's just incomprehensible. Of course they don't remember him. That doesn't mean they aren't independently capable of deciding to do something to a small child.

I don't know what else to say except that you didn't over-react.

I don't think yabu at all