Source
r/breakingmom•
34F

I just saw a man slap his son in the face

abuse

I'm all riled up over this and I don't know what to do. I was at this weekly playgroup thing with my 1.5 year old that's run by a small local nonprofit (I'm pretty sure it's just one lady who runs the thing). There's this 3-year-old boy, B, who is constantly a problem. He is very aggressive toward other kids, hitting, pushing, etc. A few weeks ago I saw his mom hit him and told a friend of mine there, and she said she'd seen the mom slap his hands once too. Then today B hurt my daughter somehow, she was around a corner and I didn't see but I heard her cry out and as I turned the corner, I see B's dad kind of grab him onto his lap and then slap his cheek. I was a few steps away so the dude definitely knew I was there. I was shocked and wanted to say something, but I had a scared, screaming child that I had to take care of, so I walked away. After the group was over, I reported it to the woman in charge and she was upset to hear it and thanked me for telling her.

I don't know wtf to do or if I can even do anything. Google tells me that slapping your kid in the face might not even be considered abuse. But if they're doing shit like this right in front of other people, what are they doing at home? This kid clearly needs help, either these parents are purposely hitting their kid as some sort of discipline strategy or they are so overwhelmed by his behavior they don't know what else to do, either way is fucked up. I only know first names so I can't exactly report anything and ugghhh I'm just really upset over all of it.

Posted Dec 10, 2015, 7:27 PM UTC

36
dietotakui love it when you call me "diet"•

legally i don't know what's considered abuse but personally i consider anything above the shoulders abuse. slapping his hands, meh, i mean i've done that to my kids to stop them touching a hot stove or a bucket of puke or reaching into the toilet. actually, full disclosure, i've tapped the toddler on the top of his head a couple of times when he's bit me while nursing. but my mom used to full-on whap me upside the head when i did something that bugged her and that's wrong. a slap across the face is definitely wrong.

does the woman in charge of playgroup know everyone's full names? i think she would be considered a mandated reporter so if she does, you told her which means she would contact the authorities.

4
34FOP•

Yeah she definitely has names and contact info, and I agree that she's probably a mandated reporter. But I'm not sure if she can report since she didn't actually witness anything? I may follow up with her to see.

1
axia_asia•

I don't see any reason why you shouldn't report it - give the name of the play group, first names and what you saw happen and CPS can follow up. The play group person might be a mandated reporter so it might have already been done.

I completely agree that what he is doing in unacceptable and the family needs parenting classes at the very least.

1
34FOP•

I guess I can always call and they can guide me from there. If it's enough info, great, if not, they'll tell me that.

1
PuffsdangerfieldMy dog is suicidal.•

There's this 3-year-old boy, B, who is constantly a problem. He is very aggressive toward other kids, hitting, pushing, etc.

A few weeks ago I saw his mom hit him and told a friend of mine there, and she said she'd seen the mom slap his hands once too.

I see B's dad kind of grab him onto his lap and then slap his cheek.

Gee. I wonder if these issues are related? /s

I've said it before, but if you ever think you should call CPS over something, then you should definitely call CPS over something. (Same rule also applies with going to the ER.)

either these parents are purposely hitting their kid as some sort of discipline strategy or they are so overwhelmed by his behavior they don't know what else to do, either way is fucked up.

Agreed.

. I only know first names so I can't exactly report anything and ugghhh I'm just really upset over all of it.

If they are always at this playgroup thing, you can report that. CPS will know where to go. You could also give them the contact info of the woman running it with the names of the people and the name of the little boy. It's not that hard to figure out.

1
34FOP•

I agree with you, I just started to question myself when I saw how nonchalant the guy was so I'm glad to hear people say that this is definitely unacceptable. I'll call and give what information I can.

2