Feeling very uncomfortable about what I've just seen

[thatverynightinmaxsroom]

It's a really miserable day here today - wet, windy etc. Just driving home and saw a little girl (7ish?) walking alone down the street. I slowed down because it's unusual to see kids of that age alone outside round here and unusual to see anyone outside on a day like this!
She was followed by a little boy, similar age. She turned into a front garden and I thought she was going in but she just looked through the window. The boy sat down on a mat on the pavement outside the house (there was quite a lot of junk in the front garden).

I turned the car round, put the window down and asked if they were okay. At that point a man out his head out and yelled at them to come in.

I know it's not massive, most of us have probably seen worse, but I can't get the image of the little boy sitting on the sodden mat out of my head and I'm just wondering if anyone would do anything about this.

Just because although your experience must have been horrible for both you and your parents, generally and obviously this isn't always the case, but only " suspicious " bruises would be reported in a hospital setting
They see bruised kids day in day out and something must have triggered it whether it was your age so the bruise wasn't appropriate or the bruise itself looked odd, such as parallel black eyes or something along those lines

Hospital setting? No it wasnt anything to do with hospital

The bruises were fairly standard but quite a few of them that took ages to go. nothing more than that.

Sorry my mistake as read too fast and saw the bit about you taking your child to hospital after a bump and was worried
Maybe it was your age, or someone that was just over zealous
Either way must have been horrible and that's what I meant earlier in that different parenting shouldn't mean an assumption of neglect or abuse

Where did baby Peter come into it?
Although if someone posted 'a child I see regularly with a mum under supervision has chocolate all over his little face' MN would probably say get a grip, when actually it was used to hide bruises.
I don't know why people are so anti reporting, I work in this area it's far more common then I like to admit to myself.
No one on this thread has any right to make a judgement on those children's lives, good or bad. To think you can sit behind your little screen and categorically say there is no concern is wholly ignorant. Let's be honest, no poster on here has any more idea then OP, although she does have the advantage of witnessing something that concerned her.

Oh for gods sake, how revolting to mention poor Baby Peter. No none can possibly know whether the OP is right or wrong here and and she can only trust her own judgement - although I am a little concerned by the views of some of those claiming to work for social services on this thread.

Oh bill I didn't even know the full details. How bloody awful. I guess my point is that that poor kids case is incomparable to two children who weren't wearing puddle suits and happened to live in a poor neighbourhood.

""how much junk is too much, though? I imagine if the OP ever returns, she will confirm there was an old mattress, rusty car and an ancient fridge. Possibly a few discarded Special Brew cans, fag butts and a used condom by the gate.""

Don't be silly, now, the likes of them don't know what condoms are.

""I don't know why people are so anti reporting""

Because the OP saw nothing worth reporting. Some people are very anti children playing out, but some children are miserable when they're indoors. Mine would have played out in all weathers, without coats.

Some people are louder and come across as aggressive, if your used to different, doesn't mean that they are in any way a risk to their children.

Judging the garden, is an attack on the poor. It's going to get worse once we have the further cuts to families. Anyone working within Child Services are aware of this.

Even whilst working as a CP SW, my own children would come in soaking wet. We struggle to get my GD to wear one.

The Safeguarding thresholds in my LA are about right, but some people have the stupidest ideas about the extent that children should be mollycoddled.

I feel sorry for the children that just get ferried around in cars to after school activities and don't experience messy about in the rain/mud and sneaking out getting up to mischief.

Most of my childhood would have been reportable based on this sample

"Puddle suit" WTAF.

Perhaps it wasn't even their house which would explain their hesitation. Maybe they were freaked out by the kerb crawling stranger and taking refuge at a friend or neighbours who didn't particularly want them there .until they spotted the weirdo hanging about in the car.
Also op I think it is very rude not to read all the replies that people have been to the trouble of writing!

User I know! I've always just called them "Waterproofs" or maybe "Waterproof suit"

Frigging puddle suit. How twee!

Not really sure what your concern is? Both my kids often dash out to play in the rain. I may well shout them in and might be in a bit of a mood when I see they are drenched and I had told them not to go out for example. Social services are not going to dash out because kids got damp.

This is the most bizarre thread I've ever read on MN I think. I can't believe so many people are saying report it. Report what?! Honestly, would you have reported me because my DS was outside playing in the snow in his flip flops? It was only for a couple of minutes before he realised that mummy was in fact right and it was too cold for flip flops, but if you'd have seen him in that snapshot of time, would I have been reported?

Dad was obviously looking out for them if he brought them in as soon as a stranger tried to get them to come to her car. Maybe he'll be reporting the OP.

There used to be a family close to my mum's where children were constantly forced to "play out" i.e. hang around in the street in the cold. Their life inside the house was also chaotic. Fortunately the neighbours did report them. I honestly don't think being reported to social services is the worse thing in the world. If it happened to me they'd probably just come round see there was no issue and leave again.

Hmm. I would be concerned too but social services would do zero, well in my experience.

I must have typed out about five responses to the Baby P comment and deleted them.
Thank God I am not the only one who thought it a bonkers comparison.

He was a severely neglected and abused child who known to SS and his family were being monitored.
They were reported. It was systematic failure that prevented his rescue, not someone being a bit wary of phoning SS.

These children are often held up as reasons why people should REPORT NOW on the flimsiest of reasons. VC and DP and KI and dozens of others were ALL reported numerous times. Most of these high media interest cases had multiple agencies involved and reports flying around, meetings being held and visits being made.

SS are snowed under. They do not need people calling up because their MC sensibilities have been offended by a shouting man and a sofa in the front garden.

Like I said before, you have to think about why and what you are reporting. Mindless 'REPORT!!!' doesn't help anyone.

You need to have a reason. You need to have something to report.

If you do have something of course you must inform SS.

"I always encourage people to report their concerns"
Only if their concerns are reasonable. Evidence of abuse or neglect? I don't think so.
I think OP is projecting and making assumptions, majorly. So are other posters.

I never knew that yelling at your kudswas a class thing

Id yell at mine to if they were running about in the rain.

Or do middle class parents scold their kids via caligraphy on papyrus nowadays... in mandarin?!

Don't be silly, now, the likes of them don't know what condoms are
what does this mean pls

If your gut instinct makes you think something was wrong then I absolutely think you should report it. Better to make a call, the family is checked out, then the children potentially be at risk

Chances are it was nothing - kids aren't made of sugar, and won't melt in the rain.

However if there was something in the situation that has made you question it, as it's not possible to pick up the exact situation by a written message on a forum, my safeguarding hat (Guide leader and ex-secondary school teacher) says report it if that's what your gut instinct is telling you.

If your gut instinct is saying there was a problem, better safe than sorry.

It's the sort of thing my DD1 would do! If I said "go play outside until dinner's ready" and it started to rain, she would take that completely literally and would sit in the rain till I said "what are you doing? it's raining! come in!"