Should I be worried about neighbour shouting and swearing at his family every day?

[MrsCrustyBread2]

The flat next to us has a couple and 2 young children. Every day, I hear the man shouting stuff along the lines of "F off!" it sounds really unpleasant. I feel sorry for the woman and children.... We've never interacted in any way, but should I be concerned for their welfare? Should I do anything?

I think you should although I’m not sure what. Sorry that’s not overly helpful! I think as he is shouting and swearing with children present, you should definitely call your local MASH team and inform them. Then probably also call the police when it’s happening next.

Thanks. I think the reason I'm hesitant is because, as far as I can tell, it is just shouting, and I really don't want to risk breaking up a family or over-interfering, if it's not a question of abuse but just of normal, imperfect, messy family life... But I'm really not sure where the line is

Verbal abuse is still abuse. Contact from a social worker might just kick him in to touch.

You wouldn’t be doing that.

All you will be doing is reporting concerns. The trained professionals assess the situation and go from there if necessary.

Why not keep a diary 📔
if you don’t feel ready yet keep a diary eveytime you hear it
as the entries mount up , you have something more granular to report

and it’s not necessarily breaking up a family
but the SS might trigger change or support

it’s really not good for the kids to be around that
as I now know ….

Swearing doesn't necessarily mean abuse.

I think as a PP said keep a diary and then report if it continues.

This should not be happening in front of children though. It also doesn’t sound good that it’s described at the man swearing and shouting at the women and children. This doesn’t sound like an argument where both are annoyed with each other. I think it should be looked in to. It can be so damaging for children to be part of this.

My old neighbours were like this, couple with 2 primary aged kids. Every day you'd hear the Dad shouting, swearing and calling the kids and his partner names. His was the only voice we heard but when he was out, the son would speak to his mum like she was a piece of shit. It was really sad.

If you know which school they attend you can contact one of the safeguarding team at the school. It helps to ‘build a picture’ of the children’s lives with the school’s concerns logged too.