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AIBU?

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Original poster

Would you report a 12 year old unattended on a train?

300 replies

GloGirl · 22/03/2021 00:09

If you saw two 12 year olds on a train without a grown up would you report it?

"Any adults who saw two 12-year-olds getting off a train on their own should have questioned that."

YABU - call the police!
YANBU - no, I wouldn't

BBC News - Missing Balloch schoolgirls spent night locked inside train
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-56476935

Really weird story.

OP posts:
sashh · 22/03/2021 06:20

The other girl's family is very quiet, I bet she is grounded and hearing, "I told you not to hang around with Amy"

Whenthesunshines · 22/03/2021 06:23

I also think they hid. The driver walks through the train at the end of the night.

Same4Walls · 22/03/2021 06:37

@Whenthesunshines

I also think they hid. The driver walks through the train at the end of the night.
Me too. I find that much more likely than the story that they both fell asleep.

No one would report 2 12 year olds being on a train unless it was incredibly late or very early in the morning. Most people wouldn't pay any attention to them at all unless they were drawing attention to themselves. 2 younger children would probably raise concerns from another passenger but 2 kids of secondary age is hardly an uncommon occurrence. Hmm

Whenthesunshines · 22/03/2021 06:39

Also, what time were they reported missing?
If they were due to be picked up at 6pm that’s 4/5 hrs before the train is ‘put to bed’.
The transport police would have got the alert... surely.
OR... Was ‘pick up time’ for these children really late? Like 11pm?

Woeismethischristmas · 22/03/2021 06:39

I think the staff at the turnstiles in Glasgow queen street who told them to go away could of perhaps helped. There are police stationed there I’m assuming girls were upset when prevented from heading back which should cause concern. I do agree the girls were foolish Balloch is tiny, people know each other, in the absence of tourists parents probably thought they were safe to hang about.

I think in some places it’s normal to see kids on trains but perhaps not for there iyswim

DdraigGoch · 22/03/2021 06:45

I work for Transport for London on the Tube. It's common practice for our operators and station staff to do a check of trains before "putting it to bed" in a siding, platform or depot to ensure no one is left behind. But on National Rail I understand this is not the standard and people do get stuck.
I can't speak for other operators but at my employer accidentally carrying a member of the public onto non-passenger bits of the railway is treated more seriously than it was in the past. Guards are taught to lock the doors and clear the train (including every toilet) before leaving a unit unattended. Someone would really have to try hard to hide to not be spotted. Much more likely that the crew didn't bother clearing. CCTV will prove what happened one way or the other anyway. It wouldn't be worth more than a verbal warning anyway.

Soubriquet · 22/03/2021 06:45

I think the staff at the turnstiles in Glasgow queen street who told them to go away could of perhaps helped

How are they supposed to know the girls needed help?

I mean it neither of them said “we are stranded but don’t have a ticket. Could you contact my mum/police/auntie em?” Did they?

They just tried to jump the turnstile which some kids stupidly try to get away with

So how were they supposed to tell the difference from kids being cheeky and kids actually needing help?

Underhisi · 22/03/2021 06:46

It's strange they weren't spotted when the train finished its journey and staff did checks. I think they hid.

mummywithhermini · 22/03/2021 06:47

Course not. The world is mad.

Disfordarkchocolate · 22/03/2021 06:53

I'd barely notice.

xmaselves · 22/03/2021 07:06

The last train to Balloch today leaves Glasgow at 9.38pm and doesn't arrive in Balloch until 10.31. I think that's too late for 12yr old children to be out especially considering the current situation . At that age I'd also be very concerned about why they've fallen asleep though drugs/ alcohol ?

Erkrie · 22/03/2021 07:06

I think she needs to look closer to home for someone to blame tbh.

dayswithaY · 22/03/2021 07:12

They were hoping to go viral on TikTok and it's badly backfired. Presumably that's why the other parents are silent.

CuthbertDibbleandGrubb · 22/03/2021 07:13

I am surprised the walk through the train does not happen as standard practice. You cannot blame a train company for someone having a flat phone battery either.

howmanyhats · 22/03/2021 07:13

JFC this poor woman must have been out of her mind with worry.

This is a story in a paper. We have no idea if she feels this strongly it if it's just something she said in the heat of the moment and now it's in black and white for you all to dissect.

Please gave some empathy, do you expect you'd have a perfect, media ready response if you'd been up all night worrying that the worst imaginable things had happened to your daughter?

Give the poor woman a break FFS.

AaronPurr · 22/03/2021 07:19

Please gave some empathy, do you expect you'd have a perfect, media ready response if you'd been up all night worrying that the worst imaginable things had happened to your daughter?

She didn't need a perfect media ready response, she could have remained quiet on the situation, just like the other family have chosen to do.

FloraFauna27 · 22/03/2021 07:22

@Wondermule

Wtf? I took the train to school alone when I was 11...

Honestly MN are going to have kids living in glass bubbles before long...

Eh? What does MN have to do with it? Nobody is saying they would find it odd to see 2 12 year olds on a train. Did you read the thread?

Also, glass bubbles? Sounds breakable.

Natsku · 22/03/2021 07:26

Wouldn't think twice about 12 year olds unaccompanied on a train, under 10s yeah but not 12 year olds.

Most likely the girls hid for a laugh, and are sticking to this story because they don't want to get into trouble. Its the kind of thing that seems like a really fun idea when you're 12 but hopefully it was unpleasant enough to make them rethink such ideas.

Butchyrestingface · 22/03/2021 07:30

I read this last night.

None of it makes sense. They must have been hiding. And none too bright.

Cowbells · 22/03/2021 07:33

Not mormally. They go to school by train, often coming home quite late after sports or music practise.

I might if it was the last train or if they appeared to not know where they were going or what they were doing.

Radio4Rocks · 22/03/2021 07:36

At12 my friend and I often went to Birmingham on the train - half an hour away.

The mother is potty.

ssd · 22/03/2021 07:39

I bet people in the town who know the mum are rolling their eyes at this...

poppycat10 · 22/03/2021 07:40

No I thought that was a bonkers thing to say as well, unless she meant at the end of the train's journey. In which case she's right.

Those of you saying they hid - where do you think they hid? There isn't anywhere to hide under a train unless there was some tiny cubbyhole under the seats that they managed to hide underneath, which seems unlikely from my knowledge of trains. I assume they sneaked back onto a train because they were trying to get home again.

The staff at Glasgow were idiots though - they should have put them straight back on the next train to Balloch, ticket or not ticket, all they needed to do was take their details and phone a parent. If they'd lied, you call the police.

As for them "hanging around together", aren't the rules different in Scotland for kids?

poppycat10 · 22/03/2021 07:41

Hide on a train, not underneath it.

Butchyrestingface · 22/03/2021 07:45

Those of you saying they hid - where do you think they hid?

I wondered whether it was one of those models where two lots of four seats back onto other each, leaving a gap between the back of the seats that rest against each other. The top is covered where the headrests meet (explaining this really badly, photo needed) and people often shove luggage into the space below.

Either that or a check of the train didn't happen (likely).