I live in a small apartment complex. We are the end unit on a block and there is a courtyard separating us from the next block. A single mother with a 3 month old baby and a four year old boy moved in to the unit on the next block yesterday. I was talking to the real estate agent and he said the mother asked if her friend could stay for a while in the unit as he is visiting his sick mother, could be a month or two. The "friend" is a guy, pretty rough looking about 35 years old, greasy hair and tats etc. Not sure of the relationship between them but i just heard him yell to the little boy to "shut the f**K up and stop whining you little sh*t." And as I write this he is continuing to rip into this child.

Should I go and confront him or wait till Monday and call our version of family services..........

Pull the fire alarm, but don't get caught.

That's a ****ty situation but confronting him will do nothing but make him more pissed off and likely take it out even more on the kid. It could also lead to a violent confrontation between you two. Also, calling the authorities will do nothing either. The reality is that unless he hits the kid and there is evidence of him hitting the kid there is nothing to be done. Sucks but that's the way it is.

Knock on the door and say, "Why don't you tell me to shut the **** up?"

my dad said stuff like that all the time. you shouldn't do anything until you have more evidence of child abuse

its quieter now but I don't like the way he speaks to that kid, and his useless mother is not saying anything!

pretty sure I could take this loser out but that would not help. I met the little boy yesterday when they moved in and held out my hand for him to shake it and he nearly freaked out....thought something was up then.

It's a really crappy situation, but unfortunately there's nothing you can do without evidence of physical abuse.

I once had neighbors that lived in a condo type set-up. We shared a common wall. I could literally hear the belt snapping as it hit the kids' flesh and the kids screaming. They often locked their youngest kid in the basement. You could hear the kid kicking the door and screaming, "Let me out!" They would also lock her in the bedroom and she would scream out the window, "I hate you! I'm going to kill you!" I called the police twice when I could hear them physically abusing her. The police came. They interviewed the kids separately (outside where I could see). And then left. Both times. The only thing it resulted in was them calling the police on me claiming that a kid was screaming in middle of the night. At 1:00 a.m. I was woken up by the police banging on the door and asking me how many children I had in the house. I have no kids.

It sucks, but there is very little you can do without physical abuse.

Just want to say that this is child abuse. It's emotional abuse, which is just as bad as phyiscal abuse.

Just mind your own business until you see physical proof of it. You're only gonna make him more mad, and even if he hadn't hit the kid before.. he might after getting a visit from children's services.

shoot them both and claim justification

You should beat him senseless with a baseball bat then sew up his mouth and one eye. In the other eye you stub out a cigar after he wakes up and you show him his reflection.

LOL. Did you forget to mention this was in 1985?

Didn't read thread but ftr I am against it.

An informed opinion from someone who works at Social Services:

A) Yeah, that's child abuse, at least if it's a regular occurrence.

B) Where there is no physical evidence, it's still worthwhile to make the report. Why? Because there may already be reports on this family from their previous neighbors, grandma, childcare workers, etc., and this may be the report that triggers an intervention by authorities. Or else it lays the groundwork for a future report to be the trigger.

C) Record the verbal abuse. Leave your video camera, iPod, or whatever recording device you have at hand, and either leave it on or turn it on when you hear the dude start in on the kid. There's the basis for your followup report.

Seriously, report this. It may save this kid (both kids and their mom, actually) from a miserable childhood, and it may save you from getting your rims stolen in 10 years, too.

I previously worked in child protective services. You don't mention what state or even the country you reside but this is mostly applicable for the US at least.

You don't need to burden yourself with determining whether child abuse has occurred. If you have concerns you should report it and let child protective services make the determination. When in doubt, report.

Sadly illegal in many places

If you are anywhere in the U.S., this advice is perfect. Where are you?

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/62.../#post30757156

Based on Bovva's above post, one could surmise he's an Aussie.

[ ] Aussies from Auckland

Abuse is ****ed up though. Kids grow up thinking they're the **** ups when it's only their environments that are priming them to expect the worst from future situations.

I would just Dexter that guy. Or kidnap him and surgically remove both his arms, one leg and cut his tongue out. Then tell him if you ever catch him pulling that stuff again you're going to get really angry.

[x] Aussie living in New Zealand.

I decided I will report this to CYF's Children, Young People, and Family's.

The baby is crying and people shouting now. Why move a 4 year old into an apartment with no playground or anything. The four year old sounds like he is hypo but that's still no excuse to swear at the little bloke.

in that case, cook the man some ****ing eggs imo

Fair point. Don't go shooting video through their windows, but if they're in a common area you'd be fine in most any jurisdiction, afaik. Same for recording audio from within your own unit.

Good on ya for deciding to report.

in the other thread nearly 100% of the posters feel it is an obligation to confront a man whose computer is too loud in a coffeshop. here, most ppl feel that nothing should be done about potential child abuse.