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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:
luxxlisbon · 22/03/2021 08:48

This is a classic "everyone is to blame but me" scenario. It is not the fault of passers by not spotting two 12 year olds, it is perfectly normal for 12 year olds to be out unaccompanied. If the mum doesn't think this why did she let her daughter out all day?

Norwaydidnthappen · 22/03/2021 08:51

Maybe if it was late at night but other than that, no. Many 12 year olds travel to school and back alone, it’s perfectly normal. I also used to travel Leeds - London on the train during the school holidays to visit my dad at that age. Mum would put me on the train, Dad met me at the other end. I felt terribly grown up and nothing ever happened.

110APiccadilly · 22/03/2021 08:51

At that age, I would get the train from our village to the closest couple of towns if I wanted to go swimming/ shopping/ meet friends etc. Loads of 11 year olds get the train to school. I really wouldn't think anything of it, particularly not two together.

DavidsSchitt · 22/03/2021 08:58

Fell asleep my arse 😂

jessstan2 · 22/03/2021 08:58

As others have said, many kids travel to school by train. Mine did from 11 (only two stops), if he didn't get a lift.

It must have been a nightmare for the parents but I expect the children had a little adventure. I hope there were toilets on the train and there were snacks in their bags.

Sweettea1 · 22/03/2021 09:01

The police have enough todo jeez they would never be away from the train station if every teenage child was reported getting off.

ImAlrightThanx · 22/03/2021 09:04

Whole story is fishy. What time of night was this?
But no, I wouldn't ask any questions if I saw them, they are old enough to travel on a train without an adult.

VaVaGloom · 22/03/2021 09:04

So they travelled on trains without tickets.

By the time the children could sneak back onto another train, the last service to Balloch had departed

Both 12 year olds had flat batteries. hmmm, really? They fell asleep on the train - what time were they out and about at 12!?

The girls should be getting a bollocking.

Same4Walls · 22/03/2021 09:06

@DavidsSchitt

Fell asleep my arse 😂
Indeed even if you believe every other part of the story such as the dead phone or them not being spotted when the train was checked you'd have to be insanely naive to believe that 2 healthy 12 year olds both magically happened to fall asleep.
Confusedandshaken · 22/03/2021 09:13

It would be easy enough to hide on the trains used in our area. There are gaps between seat backs intended for suitcases/folded buggies and it would be easy for any small to average sized person to squeeze in there for a few minutes.

These wee girls set out for devilment and got more than they bargained for. Hopefully they've learned their lesson and won't try it again. I also hope they don't end up on daytime tv trotting out their sob story.

RockingMyFiftiesNot · 22/03/2021 09:17

I once helped 2 similar aged boys who had got on the wrong train, so instead of one stop to their home they were going to end up an hour away. I spoke to one of their Mums and stayed with them until I handed them over to the train manager on the right train home. So this has probably changed my view of what I would do.

I wouldn't bat an eyelid at 12 year olds on a local train. On a longer journey I would probably engage in conversation to casually find out where they were going, and then see what happened at the other end. But wouldn't automatically report.

ElMacchiato · 22/03/2021 09:21

No I wouldn't!
Just read the story and the mother seemed to be very much blaming everyone else.

It seemed like scotsrail looked after them and did the right thing once they found the girls.

cansu · 22/03/2021 09:22

Many kids hang around at night in places where they shouldn't be. Their parents allow it. These girls should not have been allowed to go to Glasgow or anywhere else without their parents knowledge. They should have had a mobile phone. They should actually have been at home. The mother needs to be giving her kid a massive bollocking but I suspect she is embarrassed not to have control of her daughter. All kids should also know how to get help in an emergency.

Viviennemary · 22/03/2021 09:23

I just thought the train should have cctv so that should set light on their tale

WhySoSensitive · 22/03/2021 09:24

Nope. Me and my cousin used to go cross country on train journeys at 12/13!
Unless they were behaving oddly it wouldn’t cause an alarm for me!

DuesToTheDirt · 22/03/2021 09:25

Asbolutely not - reporting 12 year olds out alone, and - wait for it - on a train? That was a ridiculous comment.

The only thing I would wonder about would be where they are going on a train when it's supposed to be essential travel only. Wouldn't call the police for that though.

VaVaGloom · 22/03/2021 09:27

I wonder what the agreed pick up time had been from the local park when they realised they were missing.

I would not be broadcasting this if I was the mother as it doesn’t reflect well on her daughter or her.

Dulcinae · 22/03/2021 09:29

I wouldn't think anything of two twelve year olds. And if they were wearing masks, I'd have struggled to work out that they were 12.

But we don't know what the reporter said to the exhausted mother to get the response that adults should have reported it.

I know somebody who got caught out by a reporter, was quoted out of context and ended up sounding like a total numpty. So I know it can happen.

Same4Walls · 22/03/2021 09:29

I wonder what the agreed pick up time had been from the local park when they realised they were missing.

I have to admit I thought it was quite telling that this information was missing.

EmmaGrundyForPM · 22/03/2021 09:31

I used to go to school by train from the age of 11. Loads of children do.

Obviously if a child was upset I'd help but if it is 2 12 year old travelling with nothing to indicate there's an issue, of course I wouldn't.

TheHumanSatsuma · 22/03/2021 09:37

@GreyhoundG1rl

The mother is demanding to know why no one spotted them. Why doesn't she demand to know what the fuck they were playing at?
Exactly
TableFlowerss · 22/03/2021 09:40

No - there’s a school in the next town from where I live and if I’m ever at the train station on my way to work there always loads of them waiting for the train!! From 11 upwards.... nothing unusual at all.....

Musicaldilemma · 22/03/2021 09:44

My DD travelled on trains with her friends from age 11. As parents we always made sure they had charged phones on them, for emergencies and that they stick together. Sounds like a terrifying situation for the girls and mum but usually it is a combo of things that have gone wrong. For example, if the girls had been able to make a call when they woke up it may have been sorted.

HotCrossBumsticks · 22/03/2021 09:50

Train driver has fucked up. They're supposed to walk through and check no one there before calling it a night

No he hasn't. It's not his job to search every hiding space for idiot chidlren.

VaVaGloom · 22/03/2021 09:56

@Musicaldilemma

My DD travelled on trains with her friends from age 11. As parents we always made sure they had charged phones on them, for emergencies and that they stick together. Sounds like a terrifying situation for the girls and mum but usually it is a combo of things that have gone wrong. For example, if the girls had been able to make a call when they woke up it may have been sorted.
Or if the girls had bought tickets and hadn't been travelling illegally they could have got a train back earlier

If they'd told someone at the station they would have helped them the night before but the girls decided to wait to 'sneak' back on another train that didn't even stop at their destination

Or if they'd told their parents they were going into Glasgow by train the parents would have been able to trace their journey

Did neither of the girls mobiles work for the duration of their time in Glasgow?