I’m so shaken up and I just don’t know where else to share this.
I live in a normal area, more on the rough side of Yorkshire.
My neighbours are thugs that basically hide behind religion and “connections in the council.” We don’t speak to them, my kids don’t play with theirs, and we hope to eventually move from the area. This is just one family, the rest of the street is more or less fine and get along mostly. We have a house or two with addicts who are known the police but otherwise calm.
There is a 6 year old girl a few streets away, clearly from a family that doesn’t give a shit. Her and her 8 year old brother are always roaming around alone or with older kids, always begging for ice cream from neighbours, and just generally looking a bit…vulnerable?
Today I witnessed her being bullied physically and verbally by a huge group of kids, including the little shits who I call my neighbours.
They scratched and pushed her, they called her names, threatened her by saying “shut up don’t you dare tell” when she was screeching about going home, and then I found out from a random kid that another 6 year old boy had been kissing her. I did not witness the kissing part, just the bullying afterwards where she was on the floor screaming her head off.
I got involved and the kids mostly ran off but I do know where some of them live or whereabouts they’re from as they’re all local.
I told her parents what happened and her dad sort of engaged with me but also didn’t really seem to give much of a fuck about anything. The brother was previously watching his distressed sister in silence and didn’t do anything when she was being bullied BUT in front of his parents suddenly started saying “I smacked them back! I told them! I told them you don’t mess with my sister!” Almost like he was justifying himself to his dad? It was so uncomfortable and confusing.
I glanced inside the home when I dropped her off and all I could see was a huge dog roaming around and her parents looked like they were half asleep, unbothered as she screamed her head off about being hit etc.
I dropped her and went home by which time the other kids had escaped home. I feel so disturbed and depressed almost… it feels like that there is no hope for some children out there.
The little girl was a different ethnicity to the kids bullying her who were from two different ethnic groups - one of which I also belong to. It very much felt like the ones with the same ethnic group as me were being extremely aggressive with her, the bully specifically saying “shut up” and smacking the little girl was at least 10-11 minimum. The other kids ranged from 7-11 I think. Maybe one or two closer to 13.
I just feel so sick about it all.