would you go to the police?

I have a friend whose child's face was scratched up by another child. The friend's child is I think 4 and the child who scratched her was 2-3, it was at a fast food play place I think. I saw pics and the poor girl's face is really scratched up...

I guess the parents of the other girl were not there, but her grandma was and she didn't punish the little girl...So my friend went to the police to "find out their options"...

Would you have gone to the police? Because honestly, and I mean no disrespect to my friend and didn't say this to her, but I think that's probably one of the more ridiculous things that I have ever heard.

I have four boys though and they are constantly hurting each other, so I may be under reacting? Haha, my girl just isn't as violent as the boys are...

The child is 2 or 3 year old for cryin' out loud. Clip her nails. Speak to the parents or guardians about it, sure. But no I would never approach the cops about something like that. It's absurd.

CeCe wrote:The child is 2 or 3 year old for cryin' out loud. Clip her nails. Speak to the parents or guardians about it, sure. But no I would never approach the cops about something like that. It's absurd.

haha, the first thing I thought was, "her parents need to clip her nails..." I guess the police said there was nothing they could do since the child was under 7.

I'm sorry that the girl got hurt, but honestly, kids hurt each other all the time, especially toddlers.

I agree with the two ladies above.

Only if it were POSSIBLE!

ha. Seriously tho - no! What would the police do? Some people are so uptight about everything they gotta run and tattle to the police over silly things. Most likely they wouldnt do anything to a 4 year old.

RobbieFTW wrote:Only if it were POSSIBLE!

ha. Seriously tho - no! What would the police do? Some people are so uptight about everything they gotta run and tattle to the police over silly things. Most likely they wouldnt do anything to a 4 year old.

lol, The Possible Police says it's impossible for the police to discipline the two year old. They also got her name and phone number in case they took her to the doctor I believe, so maybe they thought it was worse than it actually was...IDK, I'm having a hard time putting myself in their shoes, but I do remember being really over protective of my first child so maybe that's how I can empathize.

Going to the police was too much, but maybe they were afraid that the scratches would become infectd, and wanted an official record of it?

I don't see what the police could do with a child so young.

RedBedroom wrote:Going to the police was too much, but maybe they were afraid that the scratches would become infectd, and wanted an official record of it?

maybe, but they didn't even have them fill out a police report or anything...I think they were just freaking out because their daughter's face was bleeding and they thought they might press assault charges or something. They were REALLY mad at the grandma for not spanking the girl who did it.

Well... yes and no. Not to get the girl in trouble. But the parents do need to be informed. It's like when somebody's dog bites you.

I feel for the kid. Scratches hurt. But it's just one of the unpleasantries children endure simply because they're...children. Just wait until she squeezes the cat too tight.

That is just a hard situation. I think that if that happened to my son, I would be very upset, but also put blame on myself for letting it happen to the point that multiple scratches happened.

Rockbird wrote:Well... yes and no. Not to get the girl in trouble. But the parents do need to be informed. It's like when somebody's dog bites you.

I don't think it's like that at all. A dog can be put to sleep for biting someone one time. A dog can have rabies and a little bite can kill you without treatment. This would be more like a cat scratching you, imo. Yes, it hurts and it sucks, but most people (I think) wouldn't take their kid to the ER or call the police about it.

I've worked with kids and have had my own kids for a long time and I see them hurt each other ALL THE TIME. I have never once seen someone call the police about it though, even for much more serious injuries.

I do appreciate you sharing your opinion, I just respectfully disagree. I do agree that the grandma should tell the little girl's parents though, if for nothing else than that they cut her nails!

RedBedroom wrote:That is just a hard situation. I think that if that happened to my son, I would be very upset, but also put blame on myself for letting it happen to the point that multiple scratches happened.

I would be upset too, but I would be like "these things happen..." and if the girls grandma didn't say anything to her I would say "excuse me little girl, but you hurt my daughter, look at her face! that's a bad owie! Please keep your hands to yourself."

I think part of what upset my friend is that she didn't see the girl be disciplined and the Grandma didn't say sorry.

If it were MY child that did the scratching, I would separate them immediately, lock my two year old in the stroller and go over to the little girl and her parents and say how sorry I was and I'd make a point to show how sad the little girl was to my child and I'd ask them to apologize (my two year olds probably wouldn't do it, but my three year old would). Then after making sure the little girl was okay, we would leave the play area for the day for sure.

I'm curious to know what kind of "options" this person thought there could be.

No. It's ridiculous that these adults couldn't handle a situation with toddlers themselves.

I really hope the police dismissed her. The grandmother sounds like one of those uptight old biddies who probably calls the police when she looks out the window and sees unfamiliar people in eye shot.

CatEyes10736 wrote:I really hope the police dismissed her. The grandmother sounds like one of those uptight old biddies who probably calls the police when she looks out the window and sees unfamiliar people in eye shot.

CatEyes10736 wrote:I really hope the police dismissed her. The grandmother sounds like one of those uptight old biddies who probably calls the police when she looks out the window and sees unfamiliar people in eye shot.

The child that scratched my friend's child was with her grandmother. My friend's were the parents of the "scratchee" and were the ones to go to the police, lol. I think that "friend" is probably too generous of a word though, more like friend of friends. We belong to a large group together.