Boy Skateboarding on moving train

[ThoroughlyDisgusted]

I was on a train yesterday and something flashed past me as I read my book. It then flashed by again. It was a child of about 8 years old on a skateboard going up and down the carriage of the moving train. He did this a few times and people started to comment about why he was allowed to do this and why his parents didn't stop him. One woman put her bag down in his path and explained that it wasn't a good idea for him to be skateboarding on a moving train. He asked her if she was the boss of the train and she replied something to the effect that he was disturbing passengers and that it was a health and safety issue. He then told her to "Shut the Fuck up" and started to walk away. His mum then appeared and said his name and walked away with him. She didn't make him apologise to the woman and I am not sure what happened next. They possibly just went a few carriages up and continued with the skateboarding.

Aibu or should his mother have made him apologise to the woman for swearing at her?

I enjoyed the that! Thank you.

I dont imagine he was going very fast given how narrow train aisles are.

His question sounds very like something my pda child would say, he would also swear at the woman if she spoke to him like that as it would be too demanding. Its why I am always nearby to make sure any communication can interpreted by me to make sure he doesn't get overwhelmed. But I cant stop him swearing, I can and do model speaking without swearing.

In a moment like this I would apologise out loud but not direct it at anyone, my focus would be on de escalation and getting my child to where I need him to be and sitting down hopefully. We wouldnt have a skateboard because we dont own one, but we do walk up and down train aisles at times. For sensory reasons my child doesn't cope with car journeys so we travel by train a lot. I pre book table seats with charging points and prepare snacks, drinks, entertainment, uno, books, tablet, ds etc. But as much as I try and mitigate we often end up needing a walk and he may swear if someone speaks to him.

I cant be bothered judging other people's parenting, I might have been more smug when I had my eldest but now as parent to 6, 3 are adults, 2 teens and down to a 9 yr old I realise much of it is not in your control. You can guide, you can model and children will do well when they can, if they are not its because they don't know yet how to or they cant.

It’s actually very unsafe as he was moving faster then ordinary walk speed and was affected by train movements so if someone was walking alongside or standing up from their seat he could bump into them very quickly and unexpectedly and it wouldn’t be nothing.
He could unexpectedly fall onto a passenger quietly sitting. He could start falling and catch someone’s laptop from the table or hot drink or anything else. So yes, it’s very unsafe not only for him but for the others.

I really don't think that petty safety concerns can be allowed to trump human rights.

@Madthings some of the newer Thameslink, London Overground and Tube trains are basically one long train with no doors between the carriages.
I expect skateboarding from one end to the other is a common challenge.

He’s 8 and using that language, within earshot of his mother, I would not expect an apology. 🤣 I’d be absolutely flabbergasted if I got one! I would suspect it has lost its meaning through overuse……

@Madthings a skateboard would have plenty of space on one of these.
Although if they crashed into one of the hand rails that might be quite amusing to watch.
(picture incoming)

Hahahaha

Oh OP.

A mother who would make her son apologise for being rude to a fellow passenger would not let her child skateboard up and down the train in the first place.

Wtf?

I hope you are joking but if not I can’t help you, it’s up to you what you are thinking.
However your rights can’t trump over my rights to get through my train journey without any injuries.

I’m in a wee town in South Lanarkshire.

Oh, the parents are all over the local Facebook page whenever anyone posts about stuff going on down the high street. They’re always making excuses and telling everyone else to shut up and “let the weans play.” Always very colourful language and “not my kid.” There is one mum who posted once apologising for her son’s behaviour, and also for her ex-husband’s. She seems to have really tried but ended by saying what can she do when his dad is taking him down and encouraging him.

This I put in the same bracket as parents letting their kids use their Heeleys / roller skates in supermarkets. Blooming awful parenting.

Oh to be 8 with a skateboard!

Oh god yes! Learn to say No!

He said that to the brave woman who challenged him. I am afraid to say that I stayed out of it.

His mum looked and sounded like a very nice educated woman. He was quite posh.

Mn is getting more twin set an pearls every day. Not your child. Not your business. I agree with him. Who left the bag lady in charge.

He kept going up and down, back and forth, and probably would have done it for the whole journey if the woman hadn't challenged him. One thing in his favour was that he was wearing a safety helmet.

We were all wondering where his parents were. The train was returning to London from a trip to the seaside.

He didn't say it to me. he said it to a woman who was much braver than me because she challenged him. I just quietly tut-tutted in the background and rolled my eyes when he couldn't see me.

Erm, his parent was there, maybe she should do the parenting rather than fob it off to a third party who is definitely not responsible for keeping a child in line.

The mother saw him swear. She just gently called his name and followed him up the train. Poor woman was probably exhausted after a day out with him. He was an angelic looking kid. I was shocked when he swore.

There were no guards on the train that I could see. If there were they were staying well away because the train was packed with people who had been in the sun all day drinking lager and listening to constantly repeated merry-go-round renditions of Bob Marley hits.

I'd quite like to do it myself, actually. If I knew how to skateboard. Perhaps we should have asked him to teach us. It seemed very dangerous, though.

True.

This is actually quite a good reconstruction of what happened. Except that the child had blonde hair and no antennae. But he was wearing that exact outfit.