What would you have done?

[Loa]

Yesterday, as I was walking to my bus stop I saw a man whack his child.
It was hard enough for the child to drop everything he was carrying and his father proceeded to scream at him.
I was on the other side of a very busy road and heard everything.

The mother just stood there and watched the whole thing, she seemed very intimidated by the husband.

I was furious.
How would you have reacted in this situation? What I did is below.

Spoiler

I walked over to the family, and sat beside the small boy.
I then proceeded to give the father such evils I thought my face would fall off.
The father took one look at my expression, said "Time to go now!" and lead his family away.

[MikeysGrrrl]

That's terrible, I probably would've given both parents incredibly dirty/disgusted looks.

[ponylady]

Hmm....knowing myself, I most likely would have said something. I have a hard time holding my tongue when I see things like that happen in front of me.

[ponycake]

In Disneyworld in March/April I saw a guy near a restroom repeatedly hitting his little boy who was crying all the while. The boy did nothing but cry. He kept crying and kept getting hit for it. I was soooooo steamed and after a little bit ended up yelling out at him MAYBE HE'D STOP CRYING IF YOU STOP HITTING HIM and he glared at me and took off. I didn't really know what to do. It was before the park entrance (forget which park it was) near a restroom so there was no one around except other guests to the park.

[Mkia]

Ugh. I hate seeing things like that. I would likely have said something, since I have a big mouth lol. Or at the very least said something to myself...very loudly.

[Tirac]

I would have called the police. That is child abuse.

[Tap Dancer]

I'm the type who runs away from unpleasant things. That isn't the right thing to do, but it's who I am.

[Galactica]

Well if I didn't know any better- I might have done the same thing you did.

But in school I worked with a domestic violence center, and we learned that confronting the abuser (for spousal or child abuse) is not a good idea.  The abuser can attack you- also once you are gone or behind closed doors he might take it out on the kid (or wife).http://voices.yahoo.com/what-if-witness-suspect-domestic-violence-6993750.html

Oddly enough-  Dr. Phil of all people (someone I regard as a buffoon) has a decent checklist if you witness abuse- not applicable for every situation, but not a terrible list either:


What to Do If You Witness Child Abuse

Avoid physical confrontation
As upset as you might be from witnessing child abuse, do not confront the abuser. Alert others in the area whose job it is to handle the situation — such as management or security.

Call 911
If the abuse is taking place at a location where there is no management or security, contact your local authorities.

Ask the adult if he/she needs help
Offer to help if the adult can't control the situation at the moment. For example, if the parent is lashing out because his/her child has thrown store merchandise onto the floor, ask if you can help to pick it up.

Get a description of the parent and child

Write down the license number of the car

Call your local family services office
Contact them with the physical descriptions and license number that you have written down. Alert them to the situation and let them know that somebody needs to look into it.

[Loa]

Well if I didn't know any better- I might have done the same thing you did.

But in school I worked with a domestic violence center, and we learned that confronting the abuser (for spousal or child abuse) is not a good idea.  The abuser can attack you- also once you are gone or behind closed doors he might take it out on the kid (or wife).http://voices.yahoo.com/what-if-witness-suspect-domestic-violence-6993750.html

Exactly why I decided not to confront him. He was slightly bigger than me, and even though I am a busty lass I can certainly defend myself - but then that is a situation you don't want to get yourself into!

[Galactica]

Seriously a sucky situation.  I'm glad you didn't confront him- (I must have read your post too fast or merged it with the next post).  Sounds like you did all you could given the location.  Getting a picture on your phone could have been useful maybe- but maybe not and also it would have put you at risk.  The kind of guy that lashes out at their own small child is just as likely to lash out at someone he perceives to be threatening him. 

That sort of thing makes me just sick.

[ponycake]

In my case my sister didn't want me to do anything either, but just watching it happen again and again, couldn't help it. I should have made her call police (I was lucky enough to break mine the evening prior). Seems like a guy who shouldn't be raising children.

[mlp4me]

That's horrible!
I don't exactly know what I would do in that type of situation... Stand there with my chin down to my feet in disbelief that someone would publically hit their child in that manner for no good reason.
I do get to hear all kinds of stories from the clientele at work about being abused, even after reporting it to the proper authorities nothing ever came of any report I sent in...

[Shenanigans]

I saw my neighbor beating on his dog one time and it broke my heart to pieces! He hit him so hard, I wanted to call the ASPCA on him. I've never seen him hit him again though and he seems to love him and he plays with him all the time. I'm hoping that was just a one time thing but it upset me so bad.

[Iris Patch]

Honestly, I probably would have seethed from afar then came home and cried. Maybe fantasize about calling the cops, but being too anxious to take any sort of action.
A poor reaction, but it's how I imagine I would react.

[kaoskat]

I dunno. If I did anything it would be call the police. I'm not very big or threatening so that's really about the best I could do.