Son in distress

[llamakate]

Yesterday my son came to me crying after school saying that when he was walking home from school (he was alone as his sister was off poorly), a group of three boys were behind him and they shouted “whats up”, when my son turned around the three boys pulled down ski masks— my son then ran all the way home - he was about 10 minutes away.

My son was really shaken up about it, i think he thought he was either in danger or about to mugged so he bolted it instantly. Today at school he has started crying in class and told a teacher about it, this teacher has told me to call the police. I just want some advice as although my son did feel threatened and ran away, it is unclear what the groups intention were? I’m just unsure what the police can do when all these boys did was put on masks and say what’s up, despite how scary it clearly was for my son.

although this is shit (I'm assuming your son is still fairly young?) I don't think I'd call the police about this particular situation.

Sounds like it was some boys messing with probably didn't think he'd be so scared

I would report it. Probably nothing will happen but it might help in terms of intelligence.

How old is he? I don’t think I would report it to the police but I would see if he can walk with somebody for a few days to get his confidence back.

How old is your son? I think my response would vary as to whether he was 15 and it was just meant as a joke, or if he was 7 or 8 and the intention was to scare and upset him.

scary
and i’d empathise
but i would not call the police, no

There is only one reason why a group of youths are wearing ski masks in the UK in September - and it is not good...

There is not much the police can actively do - but I would certainly be logging it with them as it might help fill out a broader picture...

If your son can give more information (e.g. did they also go to his school / were they wearing school uniform / were they much older / etc.) then that would help.

three boys on bikes shouted “what’s up?” at my son
and then pulled down their ski masks

and?

rode off

oh, ok

OP i get that it was intimidating but these boys really haven’t done anything that remotely necessitates the police

what would the police “log”?

Well I'd say it was intimidation, why wear ski masks ? They wanted to scare him by the sounds of it.
Op, they sound like little dickheads. Can your ds walk a different way until he's calmed down abit about it ?

Intimidation
Being stupid
Harassment
who knows!

there is no circumstance under which a group of lads pulling down ski masks intend to do anything good (unless they are on an actual ski slope!)

if we are to be a robust society with no tolerance for crime then we need to stand up against such things - difficult to do any more than gather information - but the police should do exactly that so that when they get the same reports every couple of days they will see patterns!

I called the school again to check if it was necessary to call the police and they said they’d recommend it so i called. I was told by the police that it would be tricky to do anything as there are few details and a crime has not necessarily been committed. They then called back 10 minutes later and said they’d be coming to my house to speak to my son on monday. I definitely think they were trying to intimidate or scare my son as he was on his own and is only 11 and has just started big school.

Can you report it online? I do this often when. I see phone snatchers my area (it's a real problem). Its just an online form so you wouldn't be taking resources away from more urgent matters. Its then on record. You could mention the place it happened and what exactly they did. If it happens repeatedly the police may go and have a word and scare them. Always best to intervene with this kind of behaviour early before it escalates.

Sorry this happened to your son,it sounds scary!

It needs registering on the system as a kind of approach to a minor after school time. Behaviours often start small and can escalate. It helps to identify incident patterns over a time frame and helps police resource and staff an area. They may already have a similar M.O. on file.