Child protection - would you "rat" on your neighbour?

[milkchocolate]

If you were concerned with the welfare of some children in your neighbour hood, would you call social services?

Say you knew an 11 year old boy was left home alone in the evening when mum goes out drinking? When he hasnt got a key to his own home and is hanging around outside his front door till at some point mum comes home? If he is left home alone when mum travels on a daytrip to the sea side with friends? If he is hiding behind your bushes with bare feet in his pj while mums boyfriend is abusing her?

And then his 16 year old girl moves back home after having lived with the father some time, and she and mum are having fistfights in the street in the middle of the night?

If you had neighbours like this, would you talk to social services? And what would you expect them to do?

sorry meant to say 16 year old SISTER not girl. It was his sister who moved back in with them.

Yes I would talk to someone, probably SS. Poor little lad.

I don't think it's a case of ratting, it's being responsible. If this is happening frequently then the child is being neglected.

Social services will get to the bottom of it - it wont necessarily mean he'll be taken away, if that's what you are worried about.

go for it. You would never forgive yourself if something happened to that boy and you knew that he had been outside on his own all the time. At least you have peace of mind that you have done the right thing.
If they don't have anything to hide, then there shouldn't be a problem.
I would expect SS to investigate. Don't expect feedback, but hope to see improvement in the situation.
Good for you for being responsible.

Yes, I definitely would talk to someone. Too many children suffer too much because no-one is prepared to intervene, even anonymously.

If you are worried - then please do something about it.

If you do decide to report, and i strongly agree you should, if you tell them who you are they have to report back to you on the outcome of their investigation.
good luck
L

I would contact Social Services even knowing that they would be unlikely to do very much to help.

I feel that children are a community responsibility as well as a parental one.

Can you be there for this boy in any way, even if it is offering him a jam sandwich and a listening ear through the bushes when he is hiding from the awfulness?

Any little bit of love counts when life is this bad imo.

Yes, I absolutely would report this.

Yes children are a community responsibility, and yes I believe you should report it.

Yes in this case

at in the bushes wiht bare feet. Did you invite him in?

Yes milkchocolate you must, SS will know what to do - and total respect for you for doing it

I would and have. The children were at risk and I felt bad but i couldn't ignore what was happening when the mum disappeared overnight time and time again and they didn't know when she was coming back or how to get hold of her. I did it anonymously though.

Without a doubt I would contact Social Services, and have done so in the past when I thought a child was being neglected.

I would call Social Services. Yes, I would.

Thanks guys. I called them a couple of weeks ago, they did take it seriously they said. However, things have gone from bad to worse since. Mum and daughter is arguing constantly, you can hear the yelling from inside their house to inside our house (we both have corner properties, so close proximity but no shared walls). Shouting and swearing, and mum chasing after the poor girl who is crying, saying stuff like "you gonna hit me now mum", and I have seen her tear at her daughters clothes, and push her. I have not ever actually seen her hit her, but I saw her kick her dog in the face. So I cannot prove that she is actually hitting the daughter. But I wonder if the daughter is too old to be under child protection? The other night mum came home around 1 am, had forgotten the keys and the 11 year old refused to let her in...

I worry about calling again as it would seem like I am "nagging" or dont think they do their jobs properly. Very sad situation.

I'd call again. That's a terrible situation for an 11-year-old to live in. Well done for contacting SS. If it's got worse, then they should know that.

id phone again.youre not nagging.

Ring them again. in my situation they wrote to the family and they were not happy but they didn't know it was me. SS tried to get access to the house and children but the neighbours stopped anwsering the door and SS couldn't get in contact with them. The SS rang me about 2 weeks after I reported to ask me to call the police if I had any more comcerns as they were unable to insist on access to the house but the police could. Luckily things improved so i was not forced to do this.

i would not hesitate to report to social services any child that i thought was at risk...

all too often people dont want to do it and the children suffer

Children are vulnerable and IMO any adult who knows a child is being neglected and does nothing about it is almost as bad as the perosn neglecting them.

Sorry if its harsh but its my opinion!

I would, if it saves a child from abuse/neglect. If you say nothing you're protecting the abusive parent.

Do call again because it would appear social services have not intervened successfully. Maybe they haven't realised how serious the situation is. Many ss depts are overworked and understaffed so this case could be sitting on a desk somewhere - another call might make them pay attention.

Message withdrawn

you must keep reporting this as ss will act in the end but need evidence to do so. if anything awful happened to these children and you had not tried at least to help , you would feel crap. you can refer anonymously if you prefer. hope it is resolved soon