When you see someone hitting their kids in public, should you say anything?

[Anonymous]

No I would not. Spanking is not illegal and there is nothing I could do.

[Anonymous]

Those of you who hit your children are pathetic, weak bullies. Take a parenting class for the love of god. This thread turns my stomach.

[Anonymous]

I don't spank my kid but I recognize that others do and that is not my business! OP doesn't even know where he smacked the kid. It could have been on the hand. She admits she could not see- you really think it's at all appropriate to confront a parent about something you didn't even fully witness??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don't spank my kid but I recognize that others do and that is not my business! OP doesn't even know where he smacked the kid. It could have been on the hand. She admits she could not see- you really think it's at all appropriate to confront a parent about something you didn't even fully witness??

It was not on the hand. The sound of it is still in my head - it is nowhere close to the sound of hitting a 2-year old's hand.

In any case, it's still never appropriate to hit a child - let alone to "discipline" them for hitting - the child will just learn that the way daddy deals with his anger is ok, and she can do the same when she is angry.

[Anonymous]

I once saw a mom get super frustrated (elevator in medical building) and I totally understood it - the kid was being super bratty - and I saw her getting madder and madder and threaten to hit him and i just said osmething like "Oh my gosh - I have one just like that. Always wanting something, right?" And then we chatted a bit and I don't know if it actually helped, but iut felt to me like i helped diffuse the situation a bit.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who hit your children are pathetic, weak bullies. Take a parenting class for the love of god. This thread turns my stomach.

Agreed. This is not at all like hitting a child's hand as they're reaching for a hot stove - where time is of the essence and the sensory reaction of immediately moving one's hand away, is at stake.

Hitting your child is not only poor parenting, it's lazy parenting. It's not even going to teach your children (or the parent) how to productively deal with their anger. There's a middle ground between using corporeal punishment, and becoming BFFs with your children.

[Anonymous]

OP, believe me, I'm with you that hitting kids is usually not the greatest idea. My point is, you are not the parenting police. Nobody is. You can't confront people with why hitting doesn't teach anything but hitting/eating crappy food sets up a lifetime of bad habits/playing Angry Birds on the iPhone is intellectually stifling. Had you seen that he'd actually hit her in the face, THAT would be grounds for intervening. Just not liking that he smacked her *somewhere* you did not even see because you don't agree with corporal punishment is not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was at Tysons earlier this afternoon, and I saw a dad pushing his triplet girls in a stroller. The daughters appeared around 2 years old. One of the girls was hitting another girl, and the dad stopped the stroller, and hit the daughter very hard. It was not a pat or light slap or even a benign hit - it was hard enough to make a very loud snapping sound like a whip, and caused the poor child to shriek out.

No wonder the toddler child was hitting - she learned from her dad that it's acceptable to hit others. I was shocked and horrified. I wanted to say something. It made me so sad.

Do you, or should you ever say anything if this is done in such a public place? If so, what have you said?

Mind your own business please!!! While I don't agree with what he did, he wasn't "beating the crap out of her", and it probably sounded loud because you were in a cavernous mall and his hand caught air causing the loud sound. I AM NOT CONDONGING IT, so everyone calm down.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, believe me, I'm with you that hitting kids is usually not the greatest idea. My point is, you are not the parenting police. Nobody is. You can't confront people with why hitting doesn't teach anything but hitting/eating crappy food sets up a lifetime of bad habits/playing Angry Birds on the iPhone is intellectually stifling. Had you seen that he'd actually hit her in the face, THAT would be grounds for intervening. Just not liking that he smacked her *somewhere* you did not even see because you don't agree with corporal punishment is not.

Why is hitting in the face not ok, but hitting elsewhere is fine? What exactly are your distinctions, and reasonings behind those distinctions?

[Anonymous]

condoning, not condonging -sorry about that

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was at Tysons earlier this afternoon, and I saw a dad pushing his triplet girls in a stroller. The daughters appeared around 2 years old. One of the girls was hitting another girl, and the dad stopped the stroller, and hit the daughter very hard. It was not a pat or light slap or even a benign hit - it was hard enough to make a very loud snapping sound like a whip, and caused the poor child to shriek out.

No wonder the toddler child was hitting - she learned from her dad that it's acceptable to hit others. I was shocked and horrified. I wanted to say something. It made me so sad.

Do you, or should you ever say anything if this is done in such a public place? If so, what have you said?

Mind your own business please!!! While I don't agree with what he did, he wasn't "beating the crap out of her", and it probably sounded loud because you were in a cavernous mall and his hand caught air causing the loud sound. I AM NOT CONDONGING IT, so everyone calm down.

When you're 1 foot away, things don't sound loud because you're in a cavernous mall - they sound loud because you're right next to the violence. Funny how you people on the internet are all "YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED" when none of you were there, let alone literally right next to the stroller.

[Anonymous]

Well OP, think about that next time you want to relay a story to the Internet about something you kind of witnessed. By all means, intervene next time you disagree with how someone parents. Give them all your well read reasoning for why they are a terrible parent and for good measure, call the cops and/or CPS as well. Or don't. But don't bitch about it on the Internet and then bitch about the answers you get.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well OP, think about that next time you want to relay a story to the Internet about something you kind of witnessed. By all means, intervene next time you disagree with how someone parents. Give them all your well read reasoning for why they are a terrible parent and for good measure, call the cops and/or CPS as well. Or don't. But don't bitch about it on the Internet and then bitch about the answers you get.

You're right pp, one shouldn't bitch when people completely disregard your question and impart their own blind conclusions, ignoring exactly what someone did in fact witness.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Those of you who hit your children are pathetic, weak bullies. Take a parenting class for the love of god. This thread turns my stomach.

I know. I want to think that this thread has been taken over by a bunch of secessionist wingnuts, but I'm probably wrong about that. I just can't believe that so many people think this is okay.

[Anonymous]

I'd like to report parents who let their kids do nothing but stay glued to a DS screen or iPad all day, but it's their crappy parenting and it's not illegal. They will raise imagination-challenged zombies. My kids, who were spanked, are excellent students and good citizens, and the best-behaved kids in the extended family.