Police Tell Mother: Don’t Scold Daughter ‘because of Maddy’
26 07 2007Police tell mother: Don’t scold daughter ‘because of Maddy’ | the Daily Mail.
Not that this is a childfree story, but it does take fuckwittery moronic behaviour to a whole new level of absurdity.
When mother Ruth Ball scolded her 4 year old daughter Leigha when she threw a tantrum for being refused sweeties, little did she know that some nosy parker was taking down her car licence number in order to report her to the police.
“Ms Ball was at a newsagent in Dunstable, Bedfordshire, when Leigha started screaming after being refused sweets. She swept her daughter out of the shop and put her in the car to calm down, standing a couple of feet away with her three-year-old son Jack.
A few minutes later she got into the car and drove the family home, thinking no more of it.”
Imagine her shock and outrage when a policeman appeared at her house the next day and told her off, telling her it was “inadvisable to shout at her daughter and shut her in the car after what happened to missing Madeleine.”
Because of what happened to Madeleine?! Now I am sorry that Madeleine was abducted and all, but hang on. Are we to believe that because of this girl being abducted, parents everywhere are to be castigated for disciplining their children who are behaving badly? I guess we now know why some children are so badly behaved.
Here is a mother trying to instill some discipline into a screaming child and what do we have? A policeman (who admittedly didn’t know why he was there anyway) telling the mother off for disciplining her child.
Meanwhile the child molesters and thieves must be laughing their heads off.
And I must be dreaming.
As for the member of the public that reported the mother? What a moron. Imagine having kids with the likes of these around. Shudder.
Technorati Tags: childfree
The mother would have been told off for leaving her daughter alone in the car.
but the child wasnt alone, she turned the car into a naughty seat, she stood 3 foot away from her child, 3 foot, 2 steps away, must all children be welded onto the parents. if thats so why didnt the police man go to all those brats in stores that run wild far from the parents.
she did right by my book, she took the child out of the store, and put it somewhere to calm down. it obviously didnt work so she went home.
so the store owners would be happy, the patrons would be happy, no noisy kids.
even the most braindead of mothers could look out for a child 3 foot away.
FFS!!! This is so much of the problem. You can’t discipline any kid now a days because SOMEONE thinks it’s abuse. This is not abuse. Had she walked back to the store and not come back for a long while, THEN call the cops.
And Madeline?? Do not get me started!! Her parents were negiligent. End of story.
I see…so it’s a lose/lose situation…. she stays in the store and allows the child to have a hissy fit- and is looked at as a bad mother for raising a child with bad manners, or does the right thing by taking the child outside to calm down- and is practically accused of abuse. Now I get it… the world’s gone mad!
I remember seeing that article this morning and was going to blog on it but you beat me to it.
Great minds think alike. I think it’s absolutely ridiculous. It’s a tragedy about Madeline’s abduction but what does that have to do with disciplining your child? Just goes to show that yes, the world has officially gone mad.
Lack of (or lack of freedom to) discipline is what is wrong with the young people today.They are more insolent these days and are growing up to be over indulged and filled with a false sence of entitlement!It is horrble that the police are now advocates for the new generation of spoiled brats that will inevitably turn into adults with the inability to function in a less than fair world where you do not always get what you want (such as sweets) and have to deal with it!
Well said one and all. Angela you said it all for me.
All - well said. Really, this is another reason I’m glad I don’t have kids. A policeman turning up on my doorstep because I’m trying to discipline my child? Next thing you know, the kid will start calling the police when I refuse to buy them the latest kid fad. Forget it.
@Mark - actually she wasn’t “left alone in the car”. The report said her mother was standing three feet away - with her other child. And as for comparing it with Madeleine?? People must truly be bonkers. As Tanya said, her parents were negligent.
Don’t get me wrong, the mother did the right thing taking the kid away from the situation (all the child psychs will be grinning in satisfaction..). But the Daily Mail’s spin was that just because Maddie got abducted (Gerry says they were now only 50 yards away. The Portuguese police are now frantically investigating the case of the mysteriously shrinking holiday resort) the mother shouldn’t have scolder her child. And of course Ruth says she was only 3 feet away - see above jibe about Gerry.
At the end of the day responsible parents know how and when, for the most part, to discipline their child. Busy bodies do not help anyone. Except the Daily Mail.
Btw, has anyone seen the Film Idiocracy? It’s worth a look. In the future, according the film, the earth is populated with idiots. It seems in our generation the intelligent people were putting off or deciding not to have kids. The only people breeding are the…lesser intelligent of the population….
they are talking about this on tv on the news, and one presenter said, it makes you not want kids and i dont want them, the female co host said, watch this space. (i assume meaning he will breed).
mark, thats one of the comments i get, your smart we need to breed smarter people so its your duty to breed, (a variation is colour). to me humanity is dumb and deserves all it gets.
mercurior - You beat me to it, I watched BBC Breakfast and caught the “watch this space” comment too! How condescending of her. A subtle variant of the “you’ll change your mind” bingo.
yes, but it was great to see him saying that.. to several million people.
i actually shouted bingo… scared the dogs.. ;-).. when she said that.. i did the double take on his comment.. “did i hear what i think i hear him say”.
@Mark - “the mysteriously shrinking holiday resort… lol. That’s funny. Soon what we’ll hear is that the restaurant was actually next door. Or that they didn’t really go more than 10 yards. Right.
@merc and JSD - I’m almost glad I didn’t hear the condescending female co-host
@Angela, I was talking to a friend of mine just yesterday and she was telling me about the sense of entitlement young people have today. Her brother is one of them. It’s scary. They really do feel that everyone - and I mean everyone - owes them.
What does scolding your child and placing her in a little time out have to do with the tragedy of an abducted girl? That mom should have been applauded for doing something so many mommies don’t do these days- Parenting! A verbal reprimand and sitting in the car alone to cool off (unless its hot) is a great idea! And, 3 feet, in my opinion is the perfect amount of space as she can see you and knows that she is safe but also knows that you are too far away for her tantrum to be heard… Good for mommy!