AIBU to report parents treating child badly at softplay?

[Sunshine231]

AIBU to report a child being mistreated by their parents in public? For context I was in softplay with my kids today and saw a dad hitting his son after the child accidentally spilled a drink. The mother then dragged him out into the corridor and I went out after them and she was calling him all sorts of awful names, I told her it’s not acceptable to hit a child or treat him that way and she should be disgusted with herself. She looked pretty unbothered and the dad came out and took the child away while the mum just went back into softplay with their other kid and carried on like nothing had happened. I was quite shaken up and left soon after so I didn’t think to report it to the staff but in hindsight I’m wondering if I should have? We had to sign in on an iPad so I’m sure they’d have their contact details and it would all be on cctv anyway. My partner says it’s not our business and I should leave it but I have a really uneasy feeling and can’t stop thinking about the poor child 😞 unsure if I should now contact the softplay or just leave it?

I have reported similar in the past and would again. I’d rather potentially overreact than ignore something like that and there be worse going on behind closed doors

who did you report it to? I’m not sure the softplay can do much except maybe give the police their details off the iPad and also give the cctv. It will definitely be on cctv because the hit happened in the seating area of the actual softplay

Please report it to the police. They will be able to get the details from the soft play.

@Sunshine231 I would never report it to the soft play tbh - they could be friends with or related to the owners/staff.
I reported it to the police - just gave the time and place of the incident, gave as good a description of the family as I could, and gave my details.

101 give all of the details you have and then it's up to the police to follow up with the softplay people.

On what planet do you not think to report child abuse to the staff when it’s actually happening there and then?

It is not legal to assault children (or anyone) in England. It's just that we have retained a defence of "reasonable chastisement" when it comes to children. It is for police and prosecution service to decide if the situation described constitutes "reasonable". @Sunshine231 call 101 and report.

The big issue isnt that an offence may have been committed, its that there are concerns for the childs welfare and The Police have a general safeguarding duty and the powers to identify who the child is.

I’m another who would report to 101. I’m sure soft play centres deal with all sorts but tbh it’s just as likely to be staffed but minimum wage teenagers so I wouldn’t trust them to deal with it properly. The police are the experts

Firstly there are no staff actually in the softplay. It’s a leisure centre and the softplay is not “manned”. You check in at reception and then go through to the softplay. There’s no cafe or anything where staff would be. Secondly I have two small children under 5. They will always be my first priority. Thirdly there were multiple other adults sat in much closer proximity to the abusive parents than I was, who also did not report it. I was actually in the softplay frame with my kids and I saw it from 2 stories up. I went down as quickly as possible and confronted the mum in the corridor. I have anxiety and after confronting her I was physically shaking. I didn’t want my kids to sense something was wrong so I just packed up our stuff and left afterwards. Perhaps it was selfish but equally I am responsible first and foremost for my own children’s wellbeing. And finally, as I said there were no marks on the child and it is actually and very sadly, legal to smack a child in England. I have reported it to 101 now and also to the leisure centre so they hopefully wont delete the cctv footage

If that’s how they treat the child in public imagine what they do to the poor child at home !
absolutely you must report to the police. It’s a safeguarding issue.
edited to add :sorry i see you’ve reported it now. Thank you for sticking up for this poor child.

Someone will always judge. You’re right you’re responsible for your own children, first. Good job for reporting and even noticing and posting for advice!

Just want to say well done to you OP for confronting the mum/reporting it. You absolutely made the right decisions and you should be proud ❤️

THIS NEEDS TO BE REPORTED

Please report them asap before the record is wiped you might save that child’s life

This is hitting AND emotional abuse it’s good if they can track and put on record so it can build up a picture with other reports (I doubt this is a one off!)
I would tell the venue and ask to speak to their safeguarding lead if they have one, if they don’t then MASH

It has been

Report it online to the police. Give times and descriptions so they can follow it up as needed. I reported a family in similar circumstances once at a service station. I did give the number plate. I had a follow up email from the police saying they had referred it on to local authorities in the area and action was being taken. I presume it formed part of a bigger picture and added to information that local authorities already had.

Agree that safeguarding is everyone's business. This child is helpless. Report it to the police and allow them to make their enquiries

Most organisations have a safeguarding lead - i know from training at work that supermarkets for example have procedures in place if this sort of incident happens in a store so I’m sure a leisure centre would also have this.

Call the non urgent line and report to police please.

I already have reported it to 101

If they’re brazen enough to act like this infront of people, it will be worse at home. Report it.