What would you have done?

[mum33]

I was just at my local shopping centre foodcourt just a few hours ago.

thought i'd stop and get a late lunch after i had to go the the bank.

i had just finished my meal when i noticed a girl around 8 years old sitting on her own eating her lunch. i noticed her earlier with her mum but now her mum wasnt there.

i thought to myself, surely she wouldnt leave her daughter alone in a shopping centre food court. and tried to scan the food court to see if i could see the mother. couldnt see her from where i was anyways.

by then a few minutes had passed. she seemed uncomfortable sitting alone so i thought i'd just stay there until the mother got back. just to keep an eye on her...you never know what kind of weirdos hang around shopping centres waiting for an opportunity like that.

so about 5 minutes had passed and the mother finally came back. she came back with oporto so she must have been waiting for her food. still i dont think she should have left her daughter alone like that at the other end of the food court like that. i'm sure from where she had to be lining up for her food she wouldnt be able to see the little girl.

i know 5 minutes doesnt seem that long but it'd take less than that for some stranger to walk off with her....

i felt like saying something to the mother but dont like confrontation. unless someones done something to me to p!ss me off but usually i dont say anything.

just wondering am i overreacting? and should i have said something to the mother??

[nuddle]

I wouldnt have said anything to her, just wouldnt cause a confrontation like that, BUT I would never do that with my 8 year old, can tell you that. The most I have done, is have her sit at a table right next to where I am cueing (sp?) and I spent the whole time looking at her, with my back to the shop lol, I am paranoid...

[Ashleigh<3]

No, definitely not overreacting, it's people like you who don't take chances. I know I would be very grateful if I happened to just walk away to empty my tray and a stranger kept an eye out without me even asking.

:)

How's this one. :(

Adam and I spent 30 minutes in our local shops parking lot the other night.
It was about 8pm and this little girl, I'm guessing 8. Was just sitting in this little photo booth, as DF and I were walking out of the shops I overrhead her Dad say, "Okay you wait here, I'll be back later".
I was shocked, where was he going? I thought maybe just the car, then we watched him get into his car and drive off.
30 minutes went by and he was back, I just couldn't leave the parking lot without seeing the
little girls dad came back.

I just couldn't believe it!
It was only last year that a little girl was raped and murdered in the toilets all up in 10 minutes, I don't even want to think what could have happened in 30 minutes. :(

If we are smart enough to scent or suss out something sussular, we may as well do it!

[mum33]

:eek: no way!!

WTF is wrong with people!!

good on you for staying. :yelclap:

[ifoundmyglory]

No way are you over reacting, thats horrible.
I would have done the same though, i dont like confrontations either.

& Ash thats horrible!

[Little Gorilla]

Hhhhmmmm I disagree...I don't think there is a huge problem with this - she could have been in her mother's eyesight the whole time...8 years old is hardly say 4 years old. I would expect my 8 year old to stay where I told them and also, if they were in my vision the whole time, then I wouldn't have a problem with this.

[*Chels*]

I dont think its a big deal.My cousins at that age were allowed to pop down to the supermarket for my aunty.
Its a bit different leaving a baby unattended but I think an 8 year old is pretty responsible for themsleves.I mean,its a food court-if someone tried to "steal her" she would make a fuss.And whos to say the mum wasnt watching her while lining up for her food?
I think these days everyone is paranoid and too quick to judge

[punkbaby]

I would have done what you did and watched too...i often see girls around 8 sitting with their little sister or brother in a pram while mum gets lunch in our food court at southland. Its prob best that you kept quiet though rather than cause confrontations with the mother but it would have taken a hell of a lot for me to not say anything. i have said something to a father once before his barely 7 yo sitting with a 2yo for 20 minutes..his excuse was he needed the toilets, i said there is a parents room here!! Far too many go to the toilet alone too.

Kisd are too trusting these days we only had recently at chadstone a young girl (9yo) was sexually assualted (didnt hear full story) but she was lured to the toilets with her younger sister asking her to try clothing on from a toy store!!
Where are the parents? MY DD is 9 she is far too trusting despite teaching her stranger danger etc etc Grr sorry i will go on and on about this if i dont stop now :D

[luckie_me]

as soon as i read this, i thought what ash did about that girl that was raped and killed in the toilets!
I was scared to shop in my local shopping centre for weeks after that happened.
I wont end move from the trolley or pram that DS is sitting in as im afraid that someone will take him

[mum33]

to reiterate, she wouldnt have been in her mothers eyesight from where she was lining up. from the store she came back from (oportos chicken) and from where her daughter was, she would barely be able to see her.

and i still think that 8 years old is too young to leave a child unattended.

this little girl also looked very uncomfortable the whole time the mother was gone. she had her head down the entire time. i saw the look of relief that came over her once her mother got back to the table. and only then did she start to look away from the table and looked much happier.




isnt it funny how your opinions and views change on things regarding children once you become a mother.

i dont know if i would have even noticed before i became a parent.

[roxanne22]

well this kinda has something to do with wat u were saying i really hate it when i see ppl leave there kids in the car while they go in to the shop parents should know better doesnt take long for someone to take your kid and run when i was in nz we went to a shop and this lady beside us took her older daughter and left her little one in the car by her self she was getting upset so i hung out the window and interacted with the little one so she wasnt scared her mum was gone quite a while i thought i should take her kid and teach her a lesson but i didnt cause i knew it would cause too many troubles anyway once the mum came out of the shop with her older daughter she noticed me interacting with her daughter and just smiled at me i really do wish ppl would think in those situations

[lovingmotheract]

well i see your point as but i have to say i have done that but i have just left her in the car but i'm 2 meters away.

but my mum did thats all the time with me and my brother in the food court .

[roxanne22]

yeh its a big pet hate of mine i just dont belive its the right thing to do

[hayleysmummy]

Hhhhmmmm I disagree...I don't think there is a huge problem with this - she could have been in her mother's eyesight the whole time...8 years old is hardly say 4 years old. I would expect my 8 year old to stay where I told them and also, if they were in my vision the whole time, then I wouldn't have a problem with this.

I agree if I coud see DD then it wouldnt be a prob but if she wasnt in my sight I would have her line up with me

[tanyac1976]

to reiterate, she wouldnt have been in her mothers eyesight from where she was lining up. from the store she came back from (oportos chicken) and from where her daughter was, she would barely be able to see her.

and i still think that 8 years old is too young to leave a child unattended.

this little girl also looked very uncomfortable the whole time the mother was gone. she had her head down the entire time. i saw the look of relief that came over her once her mother got back to the table. and only then did she start to look away from the table and looked much happier.




isnt it funny how your opinions and views change on things regarding children once you become a mother.

i dont know if i would have even noticed before i became a parent.


Gosh, It's really scary what some parents do...I was eating at a local foodcourt a few weeks ago during the school holidays (the place was absolutely packed) and a mum left 4 kids (all looked under 6) sitting at a vacant table she found, whilst she went right across the other side to to order food from McDonalds! (There is NO way she could keep an eye on them) other people sitting nearby also noticed what she had done, and when she finally returned after approx 20 mins she faced lots of critisism from the people sitting nearby....serves her right I say:mad: Anyone could have grabbed them in the chaos!

[erinjacob]

the girl was 8 she was in a busy food court the mother was probibly keepin an eye on her an she was not a baby if some one had aproched her im shore she would hav screamed or ran to her mother or somthing u dont no what the mother has tought the child about stranger danger. we shouldnt look down on people like that but look down on the mothers that leav there kids for hours while they drink gamble she was not a bad mother just a caring one for not making her child wait for her food

[sunnyflower]

I have left my little boy on his own while I got my food BUT i made sure he was sitting at a table right next to where i was going,i never took my eyes off him.I would not leave a child that young on their own.Good on you for staying there.I probably would have walked up and introduced myself and told her i was staying there until her mum came back!!I hate to see kids stressed out!

[MordecaiAliVanAllenO'Shea]

I'm really undecided on this - on the one hand I think we can be overprotective of kids these days, but on the other hand, it only takes one act of abuse to scar a child for life. I think it's sad that due to where society is heading we just cant risk giving kids the independence and responsibility that kids once enjoyed.

[Bewitched]

I have mixed feelings on this....on one hand 8 years old is not say a four year old who doesn't know about stranger danger, on the other hand i have heard the most incredible stories about sickos using stories that really do lure children into places they shouldn't be.
Thats why my kids are given the family 'password'. I have told my kids i don't care if a stranger says they know my name, birthdate and home address... unless they know our family password they are NOT to go anywhere with them for ANY reason. The password is not an obvoius one either, no one would ever guess it.

Nowhere is safe in my opinion, so the best we can do is always be on alert. My Mum left me and my cousin alone for five minutes in the toy aisle of Target in melbourne when i was 7 years old while she went to get socks a few aisles down. In that time an ethnic man came up and started talking to me and my cousin about the toys and what special things can they do etc. I was oblivious to it all until i felt his hand resting on my bottom. I took my cousins hand and walked off quickly saying i had to find my Mum. When i told Mum she went ballistic trying to find the guy all over the store. Even though it was years ago i remember it like yesterday, i was so shocked 'grown up strangers' did that :(

[jakeanteleahsmum]

i agree i think it is wrong for a parent to leave there child in a food court.i also hate it when parents leave there kids in the car or what i see alot of round near me is parents letting little 5 year olds walk to school by themselves.

everyday i see the same little girl walk to school and she leaves two streets away from the school(she lives down the road from me).if im outside with my ds i watch her just to make sure she gets at least half way there ok.its just not safe anymore to leave kids by themselves.what a sad world we have.