To send a picture of these rude boys to their school?

[TheGreatPotato]

I've just been to pick my DC up from nursery and there was a small crowd of teens, maybe aged 12-14 standing where I was parked. They were shouting and swearing very loudly and repeatedly at each other which my poor DC had to witness. I lost it when one of them shouted a horrible racial slur right next to my child. I said 'Please go and swear somewhere else', to which they then started heckling me!
As they walked away I took a photo as we were directly outside their school and they were in school uniform. Can I send this to my head teacher, or am I being unreasonable in that I shouldn't have taken a photo of them?

Absolutely do it. Little shits.

Send it to the school. They shouldn’t have been behaving like that if they didn’t want to be told off for it.

Do you really need to ask

Send it to the school. They are in school uniform and should reflect the values of the school, which presumably has anti-bullying and so on. I would absolutely send the photo in and expect a reply.

I want to know if it was illegal of me to take photos of the boys. If not was then I don't want to get myself in trouble by sending it to the school

Go for it. I would.

Of course!

I reported some rude girls to their school a few years back and was invited in to look at photos to see if I could identify the offenders (I didn't go in the end though)

It is legal.

Anyone can be photographed in public, regardless of their age.

Hope they get their big mouths' under control, they would be dangerous if they had brains.

Of course you should report it.

I once had to report a child sex assaulting girls in school after hearing the girls talk about it on the bus. Was able to give a very good description of the boy based on what the girls were telling me. The school tried to say it wasn't serious initially and that girls often exaggerate and I went apoplectic at them.

Anyone can take a photo of anyone else in a public place. Be sure to include the racial slur, that all sounds completely unacceptable.

Yanbu. I've sent photos to the local secondary when their pupils have been utter shits and way overstepped the usual teen behaviour boundaries.

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I have emailed the school, so hopefully they speak to the boys. Such a a shame for the school.

Glad you sent it. They sound grim

Good for you! Please let us know what response you got!

A quick Google tells you it's not illegal.

Mind you, the photo doesn't prove the swearing or racial slur, so next time (if there is one) try to get a video.

At my dd's school anything done in school uniform is considered "at school" and punished.

They were in a public place therefore it was perfectly legal to take a photo. Glad you sent it to the school.

Absolutely report to the school. I've rung schools to report children doing very dangerous things and they have always been receptive to my call and made efforts to sort it. They would definitely have wanted to know about racist behaviour.

It's not illegal to have taken their pictures as you are being threatened and needed evidence of the culprits. Definitely tell the school they were swearing, using racist language in view of small kids and gave you direct verbal abuse.

Absolutely do it - schools (sadly) are used to members of the public doing this
Just today my DD was shown a photo by her Head of Year that someone had taken to see if it was her in the group (it wasn't luckily!)

I’ve contacted a school before after repeatedly seeing pupils cycling to and from school with their helmets dangling from their handlebars. I just asked them to reiterate road/cycling safety and the importance of wearing helmets. Got a nice reply to say thanks for highlighting it and they would ensure it was addressed.

Yes, please do it.

It’s a criminal offence to swear in public ( in a manner to cause offence I’d imagine not just saying shit when you drop your car keys down a grid)
https://www.westyorkshire.police.uk/ask-the-police/question/Q675#:~:text=You%20could%20be%20arrested%20for,an%20offence%20has%20been%20committed.

Yes, do do this.

I'm a Pastoral and Safeguarding Lead in a school and if any of my students had done this I would want to know about it and would take it seriously, especially the racist language. Please do include the photo though, it's really not helpful when you get emails from members of the public complaining about behaviour but no identifying information whatsoever.