or more have i just over reacted to have called the police?

[allhallowsandwine]

i was sitting on the bus and the bus stopped at the bus stop on a busy junction and i noticed a very small boy under 4 sitting on the bench, singing and swinging his legs, and thought ah how lovely. then i realised there where absolutly no adults with him, no one at the other bus stop and no one walking or standing anywhere near him the street was absolutly deserted. the bus was at the stop for a good few mins. so when i got of at my stop i called the police to report this. now im thinking ah god how interfering, the boy didnt look lost and maybe his parents may have been somewhere close by but i had a clear view of all four roads and seen no one.

you've done it, so you cannot change it. Don't worry.

YANBU, I think. We were told at work that if we phoned a house and a child answered and said no one was home we were to call the police.

YANBU

What's the worse thing that could happen? The police go and find he is fine and safe. No harm done.

But the other way round, if he really was lost/ alone, then you could have changed the course of his life for the better and kept him safe.

With hindsight, I guess you could have got off the bus and asked him but then perhaps your buses are once in a blue moon...I am thinking of London and you sound like you are in the countryside.

i think i would have had to get off the bus but calling the police is the next best thing i guess, just hope hes still there when the police get there

The worst that could happen is the police could turn up and scare a kid who is happily waiting for someone into thinking he's not allowed out in public on his own. Which is pretty sad.

But the worst that could happen if you hadn't called the police is considerably worse.

If he hadn't seemed at all distressed and seemed to know how to behave safely (sitting on the bench) then I probably wouldn't have called the police.

But YANBU to do so since you were worried and you weren't in a position to clarify with him.

YANBU

I shudder to think what could be going on... it could be nothing much but it needs checking out and you've ensured that it gets checked out so well done.

So the boy was under 4years, sat by himself next to a busy junction, where the street was deserted of pedestrians and you were on the bus and saw him like this for a 'good few mins' ?

Did the bus driver notice? or any other passengers? I don't think you were interfering. I probably would have gotten off the bus, spoken to the child and phoned the police there and then if he really was on his own in an inappropriate place for his age.

YANBU there could be a very worried mum or dad somewhere looking for a child thats run off in a crowd or similar.
I would hope that if by some horrible twist of fate that ds was sitting alone somewhere unsafe then someone would call the police

Suchprospects - a three year old isn't allowed out in public on his own

It always amazes me how many people see this sort of thing and do nothing.

When a young child goes missing there are always witnesses who saw them.

If you had done nothing you would lie awake worrying about the child.

as Notsocrate says what is the worse that could happen.

YANBU- it's quite possible that the police were already looking for the boy as his parents may have reported him missing; you did the right thing.

If they hadn't and he was alone, you did the right thing.

If his parent was close by and you didn't see them, then the police will be relieved; you did the right thing.

Can you see where I'm going with this...?

and another thing... I bet any police officer would rather be called out when not needed (ie a parent was there, or the boy had momentarily left his carers but they found him straight away etc.) than not called out when a child is actually missing

Well done for reporting it. In hindsight getting off would have been a better idea but its done.

did you give name etc, Can you ring for an update? Was the operator helpful?

YADefoNBU

good for you. We all have a responsibility to look out for children.

Good for you for doing something.
I am a Police Officer and I would rather go around and find all is well than find something worse.

YWNBU

I am now curious as to what arses does for a living - and what is the age cutoff for 'child says no-one is home therefore call the police'? What if you just have a very childlike voice?

It was NHS Child Protection training. It has to do with a very high number of deaths of minors alone in house fires in our locality. The Police have said they would rather investigate and find there was nothing of concern than for us to ignore potential children left at home alone.

It would be embarrassing, yes, if it were an adult with a childlike voice - but presumably that fact would have been made clear when we asked to speak to an adult in the house.

There was no guidance given regarding the age of the child. As far as I know, the law is quite unclear on this point.

Oh, so part of the purpose of the call was regarding children bieng left alone - you weren't selling double glazing or anything!

You weren't being unreasonable. Better safe than sorry n' all that.

Dd1 often tells people no-one is home. I had to train her to do this though. At first she would say "My mum said to tell you she is not here"

OP - YANBU. It is most likely the child has run off or a grown up was nearby but out of your sight. However, if this is not the case, then someone needs to be informed. Imagine how you would have felt if you woke up in the morning to see this childs face all over the news?

Like others have said it's best to alert someone and have it turn to be nothing than not to alert someone and find out something awful happened.

bigchris misread that bit. Thought she'd just said "small boy".

thanks guys think i did the right thing.