Telling off children in the street

[MamaMoon16]

Two girls - around 7 years old, lying down in road curled up. Running on to grass when cars pass and then going back in to road to curl up.

I pulled over and went over to them. Got some back chat, so I said I’d call the police if I saw them do it again.

A local teen then told me I shouldn’t shout at kids. I said fair play to the teen, but that the kids didn’t have parents around and were being unsafe.

Miraculously, a local community officer drove by and I flagged him down. He took kids back to their house.

So. Was I unreasonable for telling them off/trying to get them to stop??

I would have done the same

Of course you were right to speak to them, they could easily have caused a serious accident.

I was pretty surprised at the back chat and was a bit stern with the police bit. Must have been if the teenager told me off….

I would want someone to do that to mine in that situation, but not sure if I’m going to get a knock on the door from some angry parents, although my guess is that they won’t care

You did the right thing.

I've noticed children lying down in roads, doing press ups behind reversing cars and swerving around in front of moving cars on bikes. I think it may be TikTok inspired. There are lots of car related stunts on there and kids get silly ideas.

I really hope my DC don't get into any of this by the time they're able to go out with friends...

No, not unreasonable. Every so often I give the neighbours kids a sound telling off for being a pain in some way.

imagine how awful you’d feel if you’d left them to it and found out next day they’d been run over and killed, def did right thing

I told off a boy last Halloween for throwing sweets around my garden.
I actually said, hey stop that or I'll need to bring the sweets in".
I had not one, but 2 of his parents at my door. He'd said was "screaming " at him.
I don't think I've ever screamed at anyone.

If it were my kids playing silly buggers and talking back, I'd want someone to tell them off and sternly. It's a very dangerous game to be playing.

Last Halloween a teenager nicked some of the decorations on the doorstep. I saw him and shot out the front door and shouted after him. I think I called him a rude name but it all happened so quickly. He did return the item, with various other parents turning up to do trick and treat with their younger children watching on. I did hear one of these parents giving him a telling off and obviously knew him and told him they would be phoning his dad later.

I half expected some come back for my inappropriate choice of language but nothing happened.

I think it's important that children DO get told off by other adults if they are misbehaving.

If nothing else, it backs-up what they are (hopefully) being taught at home.

That local teen was an idiot

If my children were doing this, I’d rather a sensible parent talked to them over them getting run over! I’d absolutely have done the same thing- & how lucky that the police appeared and could step in.

Don’t put so much stock into the opinions of a local teen. You 100% did the right thing. Even if it had been their parents and not the teen that had said you shouldn’t have shouted at them you would STILL have been right! Shouting is for dangerous situations and emergencies to express the seriousness. I hope there are more people around like you that will do the right thing to keep people safe instead of just staying out of it.

You did the right thing. Of course, the teen wouldn't want someone telling them off or else they'd be held accountable for their actions for once probably.

I think adults correcting kids/teens whenever you see them doing something wrong should be done more often. Perhaps it would help the out-of-control teens we have causing a nuisance in town nowadays.

I think threatening with calling the police was a bit much. Kids in our street do the same. Maybe explaining the consequences of there actions rather than shouting at them and maybe knocking on their parents house and telling them. The parents probably don’t know the kids are doing it!

Oh yes you were 100% in the right. I'd do the same.

You were in the right. Maybe the teen didn’t see them lying in road and behaving so dangerously which is why they spoke up. If they had seen them, then they were being stupid not to be glad someone had stepped in. Great timing for the police officer to drive by! The kids definitely won’t behave like that again- they could have been killed

It takes a village...

I suppose I would have been a bit nicer, told them I was worried about them. I wouldn't be threatening to call the police like the police are someone they should be scared off.

But yes I frequently get involved when I see kids doing dangerous things. I am turning into an interfering old woman but it takes a village and all that..,

When safety is involved it's fine to intervene. I grabbed a toddler that had made a break from his mum yesterday, about to step into the road - the mum thanked me and said she was off the buy reins as it wasn't the first time which I replied excellent idea. I used them with mine

If more people told them off then behaviour in general would improve. Instead seeing a grown up acts as no deterrent at all to them, as they know said grown up is unlikely to say or do anything. Hence they continue their dangerous and anti social behaviour unhindered.

I told some kids off in my road for running in front of cars. One of their parents came round and I thought she was going to kick off but she said thank you! She had just noticed what they were doing and was going to stop them but I got there first!!

Absolutely did the right thing. Years ago myself and DD were walking home from her nursery, we had to cross a railway bridge and came across an incredibly stupid secondary school aged boy dangling himself over the railings of the bridge above the train tracks to show off to his mates (he was laughing and attempting to do pull ups). I shouted at him and called him a fucking twat (tbh I was terrified he’d fall and DD and myself would witness something horrific and I panicked) then called his school and reported what I’d seen. Some children need telling off!!

Yes, I hate the current trend where adults think it's "someone else's kids, someone else's problem". You definitely did the right thing. You could have even taught the teen that safety trumps shouting.

It's ridiculous that now you're not allowed to shout anymore even if it involves safety! I definitely shout. Shouting is not hitting. But you'd think it is talking to kids now. I wonder if all that corporal punishment I got as a kid actually taught me that shouting is really nothing to worry about

As pp said, this is the village system of raising children. It's really not a big deal to tell someone else's kids not to do something unsafe. The teen is probably part of the new misguided softly softly mindset.

OP, you were 100% right and not too harsh at all. I wish more adults would intervene when children are misbehaving in public. In this instance it was a safety issue but the children also needed to be taught that speaking back to you was not appropriate behaviour.