Help!! I think my neighbours children are in danger

[Jjhx]

I need some advice and wasn’t sure where else to ask! A neighbour close to me has two young twin girls maybe aged 6 or 7, most nights they scream at the top of their voices, like a really terrifying scream, you know when a scream isn’t normal. I’ve anonymously reported it to the police before and not much happened. It has happening right now at 3.40am, it is so loud it wakes me up and I can hear it with my windows closed!! What more can I do, please help!!!

Presumably if you reported anonymously and provided a video Op - you did so via crime stoppers online.

This is NOT to be used if you think someone is in danger OP.

So you need to call the police

Sorry can't delete, I didn't read the OP properly before quoting.

um…. Not sure what response you want here. But that’s a weird thing to tell me I know I haven’t had safeguarding training when I have.

Ah yes, safeguarding training, that recurring wasted afternoon when some runcible spoon from the LA gets us all sat in the hall trying to convince you that every tiny thing is a potential "safeguarding" issue and you should go into meltdown because a child has a bruise of grubby blazer and proceeds to show endless slides of horribly abused children because - what you are seeing could be another baby P.

I always find it best to have better things to think about....

How did the Op provide video evidence if she called the police AND provided video evidence?

Because we all know you haven’t
You more than anyone!

Of course you did the right thing by reporting, and I would call again next time.

There is a difference between screaming / shouting in anger and screaming in terror and pain. If the OP is concerned she should call.

This is actually more worrying that you decided to root out Mumsnet, sign up and post instead of ringing the police. 🤔

My teen daughter went through a period of very bad MH about 5 years ago. She used to scream and cry a lot but one time when it was late at night one of my neighbours called 999 (I still don’t know who it was). 5 police men and women turned up. They were brilliant with her and I was so grateful.

Wow 5 that's a lot

weird!
I get ppl disagree with me but just hearing screaming, she’s called the police, logged evidence, given it all in and they conducted an investigation and left without feeling the need to follow up.
The kids scream, that doesn’t automatically mean abuse. If there’s nothing more, then to call social services anonymously after calling the police…

Report to social services and the school (if known) detailing the screams, the unkempt look, the low attendance, all details help to build a picture. Also keep a log of screams time and dates and submit again in a week or two as an update. May well be nothing but can never be too careful when it comes to child safety!

It is at the very least a noise disturbance. I would ring the police when it happens again and also log it with SS. You can do both more than once. Of course it may be abuse, but children screaming at the top of their lungs every night is going to cause a lot of unwanted unattention for the abuser. They could both have SEN, refuse to accept daily hygiene routines and not deal with going to school/be homeschooled. If they are already known to SS then the report will help them build a better picture of support the family might need

The problem is a lot of mumsnetters are obsessed with the concept of safeguarding, are very much followers of this religion - they don't think its possible for people like you and I to have been to church, heard the sermon yet not become fanatics and still have a moderate viewpoint.

Well yes but they could be screaming in pain for a non suspicious reason. My DD has recurrent ear infections and she screams like nothing else, especially if it wakes her at night. I'd be really pissed off if someone called ss on us and we ended up on some safeguarding list or had to deal with the police in the middle of the night.

I agree with pp that abused children are more likely to stay silent. Therefore is it reasonable to call the police if you notice your neighbours children are unusually quiet and subdued?

The distinctly dismissive tone of someone who could so easily be turning a blind eye because safeguarding awareness is seen as a waste of time.

Wow

Contact the school they go to, ask to speak to the safeguarding lead.
They will know the girls so be able to assess the situation and do a detailed report to SS if there are other concerns.
That will hopefully be taken more seriously than just a neighbour report which they may assume is due to annoyance at noise rather than concern.

We have similar but it’s pretty obvious to me that the kid is autistic. Could it be some kind of autism or night terrors? Things often sound a lot worse through the walls than they are in reality.

Call the police, report & ask for a welfare check.

Have you read any of the case reports? You should!
Ever heard how if there’s a pattern, reporting will help reveal it? (And if you report one thing and it’s indeed just a grubbe blazer, then of course nothing’s happen, so no harm done).
But if we all think like you - or just think “ah, it’s one little thing, so I won’t report” - those patterns go unseen & unactioned. And yes, then kids very much DO fall through the cracks and tragedies like Baby P can happen.

It clearly didn’t take.

I screamed until a neighbour rang the police. I will always be grateful that they called. In OPs position I would always call, I couldn’t live with the guilt if I ignored it and something happened.

@MummaMummaMumma your kids kick off about their friends not coming over at 3.30 in the morning most nights?

Holy Moly . I’m glad I’m not your neighbour.!

OP - report school/police /social services. It is not nothing.

I was in a really similar position a few years ago and reported my concerns to SS and to NSPCC. Sadly she did a midnight flit once they were making contact with her.

I’m genuinely shocked by some of the responses on this thread.

Safeguarding children is the responsibility of everyone, not just professionals. If you have enough of a suspicion to be questioning it, then it needs reporting. Usually, and hopefully in this case, it turns out to be nothing but occasionally it can be something serious. Sometimes it might not be the worst case scenario but your piece of information might be the last piece of the puzzle that shows the family is struggling and needs help; be it financial, mental health support or help with supporting a child with SEND. In either case, the parents or guardians are unwilling or unable to safeguard the children themselves and so concerned teachers, family members, neighbours etc are a very important part of the safeguarding process.

Edited to add that in this case you highlight three pieces of information that alone could be easily dismissed (screaming, looking unkempt, missing school) but to me when put together it’s starting to add up to a bigger picture - again that bigger picture could be easy to explain and may be nothing, it could be that as described above that the family needs some support or it could be something serious - best to let the relevant authorities decide rather than leave to chance though.