Should I tell this child's mother what I saw

[scandinista]

On the way home from school today I saw a little girl being fiercely shouted at by an adult who was bringing her home. This woman was yelling from the start of the walk home to the front door and really telling her off about her unacceptable behaviour.

I don't know what had happened but it seemed very aggressive and unpleasant and, as it was so public, very embarrassing for the little girl (who is 6). She was silent throughout looking really miserable.

Should I tell her mum? She seems like a nice lady. If it's a close family friend or relative then maybe it's ok but I'm not sure.

Would you want to know if someone had witnessed an adult ranting at your child? I think I would.

Yes I would

Yes I’d tell the mum

I would mention it to the school safeguarding lead.

Yes tell them

yes i absolutely would. i would frame it very carefully, but i would say you were concerned at the shouting and that you hope everything is ok as it seemed quite a upset had occured.

Do you know the Mother well enough to tell them? If it was the parent telling them off then I would t get involved in that circumstance and if I was concerened as it was quite severe I'd perhaps mention it to the school. If it's not a parent and say a child minder then as a Mother I'd want to know.

Thank you - I will

I would want to know, as a mum

Yes I would.

Absolutely yes

Yes, and probably mention it at school as well, beforehand, in case the mothers response isn't helpful

If you are sure it wasn’t the mum, then yes definitely tell her - if a childminder or nanny was verbally abusive to my child, I would absolutely want to know so I could sack them on the spot.

These types of things are impossible to judge. You were there, op. Do you think it was bad enough that the mother needs to know? If so, then tell her.

Yes

Intake a slightly different view and would tell the school, especially if you saw it on the walk home from school. They have procedures in place and safeguarding leads to deal with this. It could have been all manner of things to cause it (obvs I’m not saying it is right).

if you don’t know the mum well or even if you do, they may become incredibly defensive and reflect it back on you.

I think a good test is that you thought it bad enough to make a thread.

So yes, mum or school.

I'd tell either the mum or the school

Yes

a million percent yes

i would want to know! also inform safeguard at school

Maybe give the child's parents a chance to address this before getting school involved.

You sure it's not the child's mother?

I definitely would want to know.

Definitely. You could say something like “I know it’s none of my business and I don’t know the context but I saw your daughter get horribly shouted at after school and it was pretty upsetting to see. If it was me I’d want to know”.

If you ignore this you ignore the fact that many kids get abused by adults they know and trust.

Definitely

100% tell her. I’d be fuming if I was the mum but super grateful to be told.

Yes I definitely would want to know. You don’t know how this snippet that you witnessed might feed into a bigger picture. Worst that could happen is she tells you to eff off and mind your own business