We were at a splash playground yesterday(a closed place, sort of a small water park, commercial place), where there's obviously a lot of water and exciting kids. Most of the kids were young, including toddlers, pre schoolers, and elementary school aged kids, etc and parents. Some kids were running (most were not). Then a 5 year old boy and an 11 year old girl bumped to each other and the boy fell down on his back and bumped the back of his head to the hard floor (concrete). He cried. His parents came to check on him and calmed him down. The girl went away without saying anything and her parents didn't show up either (the girl looked a lot bigger and older than a typical 11 year old). But then about half an hour later, the boy and the same girl obviously bumped together again. This time, the boy fell on his face and hurt his forehead, and mouth (lips and tongue, etc). The parents got upset and started talking to the park staff, to ask for first aid and talk about the event. Then the girl's parents came up and said she's the mom and asked the boy's parents to talk to her, not the staff. Then she said her daughter was sorry (in a polite, yet not a very apologetic tone) and she was only an 11 year old kid, etc. The boy's parents then went on checking the boy and decided they wanted the girl's parents' contact information. The girl's parents refused to give it and tried to leave the park. Then the boy's parents called the police.
If you were the boy's parents, what would you do?
Re: What would you do?
I wouldn't call the cops.
Why were they upset at the 11 year old? Was she like, intentionally charging at the little boy with intent to knock him down? Like, targeting him?
I have been annoyed by kids picking on littler ones and by being reckless, but I would never have called the cops. If the girl was being reckless, I'd ask her (and my kid) to slow down. If she was targetting him, I'd do the same and perhaps mention it to her parents or leave.
Why the HECK were the cops called? Why did they need the girl's contact info? I wouldn't have given it either. Kids bumped each other. What, are they going to sue or press charges?
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I really want to know which parent the OP is in the situation. The parent of the boy, the girl, or an observer. But would an observer be close enough to notice the tone the girl's parent used? And would the girl's parent note that her own tone wasn't apologetic?
I would be shocked if the cops came out for that.
Take boy to ER, make sure nothing is wrong, the end.
I'm not following any of this.
If it were an innocent accident of two kids playing and bumping into each other, I'd do nothing.
if an 11 year old kid intentionally injured my child I would notify park staff. I would not expect the park to release personal contact info-that is just insane.
This is what I figured from reading the story. Sounds like a Judge Judy case.
I am thinking that the same two kids colliding hard enough twice to cause injury to the younger child... the girl seems bery aggressive and potentially targeting the younger child.
Or a bit careless. Or not paying attention. It doesn't take that much to get hurt while falling on concrete.
I'm guessing the boy's parents thought the girl was doing it on purpose? Or they thought the boy might need medical attention and want to be able to recoup costs from the parents? I think it would be pretty crappy to file an assault complaint against the 11 yo unless she was doing it on purpose. Unfortunately they are probably within their rights to do so.
As far as the other parents, I think they should have taken it more seriously and it may have diffused the situation. An 11 yo is old enough to be aware of and careful of little kids. If it was the second time she had hurt a little kid by being reckless (accidental or not), the park should have asked her to leave or at least the parents should have sat her down for a while until she calmed down and realized she needed to be more aware of her surroundings. She's old enough to be expected to be more careful of others, especially little kids. 1 time, unfortunate accident; 2 times, there's a problem that needs to be addressed.
My criminal record will likely begin here.
We were at a playgroup gathering with the boy's family and other families. It was the first time we had interaction with the family. I didn't see any of the incidents, but someone in the group happened to watch the first one. Then no one knew how the second incident happened and the way the boy was hurt made the family wonder whether he had been pushed from the back to fall.
I'm just trying to learn what response to take if I were the parent of either kid. Seems like most people here think it's odd to ask for contact info from the girl's family. What if the hurt had been more serious (e.g. brain damage, or breaking teeth)? Will you ask for the contact info in case the medical bill is incredibly high? Will you force the girl to apologize herself to the boy (she never did) if you were the parent of the girl/boy?