Anonymous wrote:I would drive on by and say nothing. People are violent and crazy.

Yeah man who knows what that 8 year old could do

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As a teacher I recognize the parents who think it's cute. They defend the kids bad behavior in school, blame the teacher or say their kid is above the rules. Crazy.

Nailed it!

And as a teacher sometimes kids are kids, we ALL experimented with rebelling by sticking up our middle finger, and you can correct a kid without reducing them a monster for kid behavior. This is the kind of teacher who thinks “classroom management” = taking away recess and stuff.

It really sucks, OP, because if it had been adult you could have cut them off, run them off the road, pulled out a gun, but 8 yo, maybe not

Could be the kid has horrible parents who do this themselves, laugh when their kid does it
Could be the kid just learned it, has been yelled at by his parents, but figured out they don't notice when they're driving and the reactions of drivers reinforces the behavior
Could be the above but he thinks nobody actually sees him
Could be the kid has a disorder such as autism or intellectual disability and has learned the gesture but really does not understand social standards at all
Could be the kid has Tourette's and it's a compulsion

Either way, you don't have enough information to know all the circumstances, and referring to him as a little monster is overboard. Didn't your parents teach you anything about not leaping to conclusions?

On the one hand, little boys revel in their obnoxiousness and will eventually grow out of it. This is kid stuff, but it isn't right.

On the other, the kid's own parent should be discouraging the inappropriate behavior. And I would have wanted to know.

But it might be most effective for the parent to ignore it, because the "little monster" (boys really are for several years around that age, c'mon you know it's true!) might consider a reaction positive reinforcement for the misbehavior. It's quite possible the novelty would wear off faster and the behavior get discontinued sooner if the parents ignore it.

I’d laugh and give it right back.

I would drive on by and say nothing. People are violent and crazy.

Anonymous wrote:I’d give him the finger back, with a huge smile.

This. Ha!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh leave the little badass alone. Who cares? Honestly, who would even give this a second thought, let alone run to DCUM about it.

That's weird. I wouldn’t let my kids do that especially to adults. Bad, lazy parents

Well, dear, I’m sure the “bad parent” at the time was, you know, DRIVING A CAR and PAYING ATTENTION TO THE ROAD. Obviously, they didn’t know what their kid was up to in the back seat.

Get a life, honestly. I’d rather have a parent focused on safely driving than on glancing back at a quiet kid every 20 seconds.

This. And the kid was likely responding to poor driving on behalf of the OP.

I always take driving tips from children. They are experts after all.

Haven’t you ever been given the finger by the little kids in a back of a school bus? It always makes my day. I smile and wave. Let them have their fun.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore, unless you can SAFELY pull up close and get the driver's attention, and then say brightly : "Hey, you might want to know that your kid is giving the finger to everyone passing by!". He's 8, and trying things out. No big deal, and certainly not a reason to get into an accident.

If you did this to me, there would be two middle fingers involved.

I'm not the first PP, but if you did this, I'd feel really sorry for the kid in the back seat.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Ignore, unless you can SAFELY pull up close and get the driver's attention, and then say brightly : "Hey, you might want to know that your kid is giving the finger to everyone passing by!". He's 8, and trying things out. No big deal, and certainly not a reason to get into an accident.

If you did this to me, there would be two middle fingers involved.

't
The monster probably learned to flip the bird from his parents while they're driving. Can't wait until he is old enough to drive, he will be on their insurance, hahahaha!

Anonymous wrote:Ignore, unless you can SAFELY pull up close and get the driver's attention, and then say brightly : "Hey, you might want to know that your kid is giving the finger to everyone passing by!". He's 8, and trying things out. No big deal, and certainly not a reason to get into an accident.

If you did this to me, there would be two middle fingers involved.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Surprised at the number of people who think this is funny. (guess I have a different sense of humor)

I think it is rude, would be upset if I discovered my kid did something like this, but I wouldn't go to labeling the kid "a little monster"

And no, I wouldn't try to tell the parents.

A little kid giving people the finger from his carseat is definitely worth a chuckle, in my book.

+1 I don't think it's funny, but I wouldn't drive over to the parents and tell them. It's the equivalent of a kid giving the finger on the playground. If they're not hurting anyone and aren't my kid, it's not something I interfere with.

Anonymous wrote:Surprised at the number of people who think this is funny. (guess I have a different sense of humor)

I think it is rude, would be upset if I discovered my kid did something like this, but I wouldn't go to labeling the kid "a little monster"

And no, I wouldn't try to tell the parents.

A little kid giving people the finger from his carseat is definitely worth a chuckle, in my book.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh leave the little badass alone. Who cares? Honestly, who would even give this a second thought, let alone run to DCUM about it.

That's weird. I wouldn’t let my kids do that especially to adults. Bad, lazy parents

Well, dear, I’m sure the “bad parent” at the time was, you know, DRIVING A CAR and PAYING ATTENTION TO THE ROAD. Obviously, they didn’t know what their kid was up to in the back seat.

Get a life, honestly. I’d rather have a parent focused on safely driving than on glancing back at a quiet kid every 20 seconds.

This. And the kid was likely responding to poor driving on behalf of the OP.