Yup, it's a fine line, but the OP's spidey sense is tingling - that would be enough for me to take some form of action.
Visibly upset child made to run daily.
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Yup, it's a fine line, but the OP's spidey sense is tingling - that would be enough for me to take some form of action.
Think you have to weigh it up in terms of risk.
The possible outcomes from getting the authorities involved are that you save a kid from being further abused at home, or at least help alleviate that. The other angle is that the parent is doing, as other people have suggested, the kid a favour and any interference might alter that and the kid might end up tangibly worse off.
It's your call.
The possible outcomes from getting the authorities involved are that you save a kid from being further abused at home, or at least help alleviate that. The other angle is that the parent is doing, as other people have suggested, the kid a favour and any interference might alter that and the kid might end up tangibly worse off.
It's your call.
Soldato
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If this was an animal being forced into physical exertion that resulted in signs of distress, there would cries of "kill the da".
But it's a child, so best turn a blind eye.
But it's a child, so best turn a blind eye.
Yeah, I like to think I could tell the difference between a parent providing a nurturing discipline and one being a ****. Ignoring that because it wasn't any of business would make me complicit.
I think forcing kids to exercise is fine it's for their own good.
but if he's clearly upset and in stress because his dad is a horrible person then it's different.
riding away from a visibly upset kid in your own huff seems like the guy ain't ready to be a parent, there's better ways to motivate that aren't damaging the kids mental health.
the dad should be there for encouragement and willing him on actually showing support.
seems more like it's a punishment though and the kid could legit have done something worthy of being forced to do a lap or two.
maybe you could have a friendly word with the dad act like your on his side, "nice to see someone encouraging their child to exercise" as he goes past next time.
see what the father says, judge his mood, maybe even shout something to the kid after saying that to his father "like go on lad you can do it"
you don't need to be confrontational
but if he's clearly upset and in stress because his dad is a horrible person then it's different.
riding away from a visibly upset kid in your own huff seems like the guy ain't ready to be a parent, there's better ways to motivate that aren't damaging the kids mental health.
the dad should be there for encouragement and willing him on actually showing support.
seems more like it's a punishment though and the kid could legit have done something worthy of being forced to do a lap or two.
maybe you could have a friendly word with the dad act like your on his side, "nice to see someone encouraging their child to exercise" as he goes past next time.
see what the father says, judge his mood, maybe even shout something to the kid after saying that to his father "like go on lad you can do it"
you don't need to be confrontational
You quoted yourself?
If he's over-exerting him at that age it could lead to health issues, I had a friend at school develop a heart arrhythmia from long distance running from a really early age. He was checked out and there was nothing physically wrong with his heart or anything hereditary. He had just pushed it too much whilst he was young, when your heart rate is already naturally higher. Think it was SVT.
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No he's not overweight, nor underweight. The kid looks healthy. I think the point I became concerned is when I witnessed the Dad losing his temper and scooting off. Scooter aside, if the Dad was with him encouraging him then it would come across differently.
It just painted a picture, Dads a bit of an arse, kid clearly doesn't want to be doing it, I wonder how he's treated at home.
I'm with you on that one, absolutely. Kids these days don't need to go out to play with their friends, they can sit on their games consoles and socialise. Exercise needs to be somewhat forced and it is our jobs as parents to make sure they have the healthiest of starts.
This kid is running most days if not every day. 8 of the 10 times I see him, he's upset and the Dad is nowhere to be seen. Occasionally his Dad will be with him on the scooter.
I see him most days so unless he's particularly naughty I'm not sure it's punishment.
That's not a bad idea, rather than all guns blazing which will likely end in the Dad telling me to do one.
That was clearly an accident. I meant to quote you.
Lots of kids get upset being made to clean their bedrooms or do their homework, is it child abuse to try to make them? he could be a champion runner in another 20 years thanks to his parents and at that point he will be grateful to them. Are we really saying his parents are worse than those who overfeed their children and just let them sit in front of the TV all day whilst getting obese which causes them massive health problems later in life?
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Soldato
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Being upset about having to do homework or clean your bedroom is hardly the same thing as being upset about being forced to run every day. The kid's 5/6 years old...
'But is it worse than the complete opposite thing' is a poor and pointless argument.
'But is it worse than the complete opposite thing' is a poor and pointless argument.
Having been stuck in the house with a six year old since lockdown I can sympathise with the Dad, I have to take my son out and make sure he gets a ton of exercise otherwise he'll just become unbearable. With both of us working we've had limited time to spend with him and this at least stops him smashing the house up, at least he's not getting fat in front of a TV.
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The safeguarding of children is everyone's business. This may be nothing, it may be something, nobody will ever know if it's completely ignored.
Where did you get this common sense from? I'm sure some other people here would like to know as they clearly are missing some.
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Soldato
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Are you a parent? I cant possibly see how if you make comparisons like that.
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A nice couple who live a couple of doors away from me went searching for their 10 year old Grandson last week and somebody noticed them looking at groups of kids to try and spot him.
They even stopped a couple of kids to ask if they'd seen him around but the next thing a car drives up with an angry woman shouting paedo at them and filming them.
They tried to explain they were looking for their Grandson but the woman didn't believe them.
Later that evening they were on Paedo Watch Stoke On Trent and several other local sites with a big paedo alert tagged on them.
I actually saw it immediately, went and knocked on their door and explained what this evil bitch had done, it took them ages to get the posts removed with Police help.
Man of Honour
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mmj_uk should be disgusted with himself.
Soldato
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Yeah, one of my neighbours does the same thing with his two eldest boys (7 & 11 y/o) for that same reason + they're into playing football anyway.
He has them doing sprints etc.
It's the right thing to do, but some obviously take things too far.
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people saying its none of your business - i think thats why we have had cases where a kid has been killed by their guardian.. I think at the very least you could call 111 and explain the situation to them ..
isnt that way over the top?
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That's absolutely horrific, poor people!!