To ask have you ever seen a stranger whose parenting worried you?

[Mustangwally]

What did you do? I was at a local park today, saw a father dragging his little boy by the scruff of the neck. Apparently Dad had seen the boy push his sister off a zipwire platform. He screamed in the boy's face, calling him a "horrible child" and a "bully" and said "if you do that again you won't sit down for a week". He made the boy stand with his back to the family saying "I don't want to see your face". The boy was sobbing. His mum looked very uncomfortable. I found the whole thing very upsetting. Dp said we can't get involved but I just thought if the dad behaves so aggressively in public, what on earth is he like at home? I can't stop thinking about it.

If you're worried about the safety of a child, call the police at the time you have concerns. If you saw someone doing this to an adult, how would you react?

I saw a man hit his son on the school run. I intervened and told the school.

I posted about it here and had a very mixed response - lots told me it wasn’t illegal and butt out, some told me it was dangerous for the child, some told me I did the right thing.

The reality is that it’s hard to deal with this situation perfectly as often the people are strangers and you wouldn’t be able to report them.

As he didn’t actually hit the child I probably wouldn’t intervene but I’d have been concerned. I might’ve tried to take a pic to see if local schools knew the children. Beyond that I’m not sure.

Yes, I have. Parents who repeatedly left two very young children (under 4) to play alone in a car park in the housing estate where they lived. No one keeping an eye out, even though cars coming and going. I reported concerns to school who ended up being in conversation with SW. Turns out that I saw only the tip of an iceberg, and the children were removed to a foster home. They are now visibly much, much happier. I have kicked myself for not reporting sooner - in retrospect, I waited too long.

Once rang the police in a shopping centre when a woman all but put her dc (4/5) through a shop window in a rage...
Saw them arrive and walk them both off to a police car...

You did the right thing Ocelot. How awful. I think it's hard when you witness a one off and have no idea who they are or where they live.

It could be a regular occurrence or perhaps just a really bad day and Dad has lost his cool after the stresses of Xmas etc.

I will put my DD into 'time out' if we're out and about and she has a tantrum. Someone once came up to me in a car park taking photos and asking what I was doing when my DD was standing next to our car on a cold day with my back to her, but she had refused to get into her car seat for five min and no cajoling or bribery had worked so we only doing what the health visitor had suggested. Made me feel so upset and attracted a crowd of onlookers, although I suppose I should be glad someone was brave enough to look out for a child who potentially was being harmed.

Hard to tell from that snapshot, but it depends on how aggressively/physically he was 'dragging him by the scruff of his neck'. I sometimes lift my 4 year old Dd when she's having a public tantrum to move her somewhere out the way (like if it's at the checkout and we're blocking the exit), she resists by kicking and screaming for her Dad when he's not there so to onlookers it can look awful and like I'm abducting her, but I'm not really hurting her.

I think it was more the aggressive verbal abuse that made me feel sick. It was frightening for me let alone the child. The Dad didn't even bother getting the full story.

Yes I have. I strongly challenged the woman who hit her child. She was then very aggressive to me. To my regret, I didn't call the police, I was too shocked and not thinking straight. I doubt it was the first time it has happened in public and only hope ss were aware.

Yes a few years ago in a church for Christmas Eve carol service I saw a dad hit a little girl around the head so hard she was knocked off the bench . Everyone was leaving the church at the time so the aisle was full. I confronted him quite loudly and told him his behaviour was appalling and how dare he do that to anyone least all a young child. He squared up to me not realising that my 6 foot 1 tall dad and 6 foot 3 tall DH were standing behind me. DH then stepped in which made the guy sheepish and his friend was with him and said "he's a good dad!" I told that idiot in no uncertain terms that he was not a good dad and if I knew their names I would be reporting them to ss. Unfortunately being in church I had no phone and no way of knowing who they were to report it to anybody. I just hope the "friend" thought twice about that arseholes behaviour aftery confrontation and looked out for the girl in future. The mum was stood outside and didn't intervene at any point.

I’ve called social services before; lived in an apartment block, could hear next doors kids awake at all hours, screaming, yelling etc Father knocked on our door one night looking for matches high as a kite. Shortly after this I encountered the daughter of around ten sitting on the stairs with much older lads dressed inappropriately and smoking. The kids were taken into care, they were apparently already on their radar.
Also called the police when I saw a woman beat the bejesus of a small boy in a shopping centre car park. It was in NZ where hitting children is now illegal. I gave evidence by video link when it went to court as I’d returned to the U.K. by then. I’d have no problems contacting authorities if I thought it was relevant. I’d rather be paranoid and have the qualified authorities check and dismiss my concerns, then wake up to a story in the paper and be forced to live with my guilt

Was on the bus. Woman got on with her infant in a pram and her very small son (maybe 2yo). She sat him next to me and stood with the pram, a couple of rows back. He was very solemn and perfectly behaved. The bus stopped and he turned round, presumably to see if she was getting off. She flew forward and walloped him across the face, telling him 'I told you not to move'. The poor little duck didn't even blink.

I was beside myself. I thought, if she does this on the bus, what does she do at home? And his reaction showed that he was used to it.
I waited until we reached my stop and on my way out, I leaned over and told her that she did not deserve children and that she should be ashamed of herself. She started screaming at me that she could do whatever she wanted to her kids and it was none of my business. Everyone else on the bus went nuts, yelling at her (I had been sitting close to the front, so everyone saw him get smacked.)
I got off and told the transit police (there was CCTV on the bus) and the driver came around and said that he had also seen it happen. Last I saw, she was being arrested for assaulting him.

My dh confronted a woman once who hit her little boy around the face so hard it left a red mark

He was only about 2 years old. Dh was disgusted but the woman didn’t give a fuck

Told him to mind his own business and glared at him every time she passed him

I just hope the little boy is ok. Wish I'd done something more but I just froze.

Yes today whilst shopping
Little girl just standing there and her mother just grabbed her like a bag of potatoes and really aggressively spoke to her a totally over the top reaction.

I have speech problems so I couldn’t say anything as it wouldn’t be coherent (family / people who know me understand me but I stutter a lot amongst other things) but I commend those up thread who call others out.