Depends on what sort of hit, if it was a light smack, i would do nothing, if it was round the head, I would have to intervene. I have witnessed it on the street and it really offended me this stupid mother shouting at her child, abusing the poor innocent being.

If the mother is beating the child with a metal bat, breaking his skull, punching him and nailing him to a wall... I would walk away. Very very slowly.

Nothing, I think more kids deserved to get smacked more often. The observer didn't notice the 30 min of ration conversation on why that behavior is not allowed before the kid had the tantrum leading to the swat.

I think it really depends on how she's hitting the kid. I mean there's a difference between a tap on the arse and a "dont ever do it again" and a wallop round the head. If I thought there was something goin down, I'd obviously have to take action. Rugby tackle ;)!

a smack on the bottom, I wouldn't say a word. If I seen her beating the child, I would stop her and show her what it feels like.

last time i did laundry i saw a woman verbally abusing her sweet daughter and using spanks on her bottom to reinforce it. i feel like a shit because i didn't do a thing about it. that little girl was so sad.

If it's a pop on the bottom, I'd do nothing. I'd only do something if I felt like the child was being abused.

Depends on the hit. If it's nothing more then a spanking for bad behaviour and on the rear end I'd probly back her up to the kid. Now if she's wailing on the kid like he's a diry rug I'm going ot have to step in to stop her.

Ask how I could help.... if she's hitting out of frustration, maybe I could step in for a few minutes until she re- collected herself.

Hitting Oh God...i would step in and say somehing...but a spank is OK i guess...I have a 3 year old & when we are in public and he acts up...i just tell him NO & he understands...It all depends on how you teach you children. I think the Mom has the problem not the child.

There is a difference between hitting and spanking. If she was spanking - it would depend on how hard if i would step in. But no matter what I always let any mom spanding or yelling at her kid in public see me roll my eyes and mutter a few words about her under my breath. I don't like parents who can't control their kids in public.

I would ask her if she needed help and if so restrain the child so it could not run away while she was administering the discipline.

If it was just a swat on the childs bottom, then I'd do nothing. Sometimes thats needed. However a slap across the childs face, or pounding on the child, I don't think I'd be able to restrain myself, from telling her what a piece of sh*t mother she was, and possibly giving her a smack across the face just to see how she like it. There is absolutely NO excuse for that kind of behavior towards a child.

dont have your kids during menepause cause your patience is just not there as much as you'd like it to be. you should not hit your kids hard but i feel a spank is ok on the bottom. kids need to know who's in charge today. but do it with love at the same time. have your kids in your late twentys and early thirties. in your fortys when you are going through that it makes you so high strung and kids can test you at times it can make you feel temporarily crazy. its very hard, but you love them at the same time. so a little advice to people who want kids. have them younger, not too young though.

reach back like a pimp and slap the ho

It would depend on how obnoxious the kid was being and how hard the mother hit the kid. I'm against beating children with foreign objects, but one of the reasons kids are such spoiled brats today with no courtesy is because their parents never gave them a slap accross the face.

if it was just a little slap on the bottom or hand, i wouldnt do anything, but if she like slapped the kid in the face i would call the police.

if it was unnecessary i might ask her to take it outside. but if it was brutal i'd ask her to get her hands off him

Pass judgement on her lacking parenting skills. To do something so foul in my presence is inexcusable.

Hit her!

First I would separate the Child and take it in my arms to pacify. Then I will ask the mother the reason for the rage and make her understand the child is the gift of God to her and she is only a trusty to take care of the child. I for one cannot bear cruelty to any living being, especially to children.

I would tell her, "How would you like it if I did that to you? NOW STOP!"

I'm fine with a smack on the bottom, but a slap or something like that would make me step in. Normally, though, I would leave the mom alone. Too often it's the kids hitting the parents and them not doing anything. I'd call that parental abuse.

I'd confront her and set her straight

Depends on how she hit him. State laws give parents the right to punish their children with spanking as long as it doesn't leave a mark and no "tools" were used. An open-hand swat on the butt isn't abuse. If she backhands him or actually begins to beat him, then it's time to step in. Most of us have cell phones, and if you see the mother beating their child, call 911. But it better be true abuse and not just a swat on the butt.

Personally I think we need to define hitting versus spanking. I am not against bare handed spanking. I am against abuse. Hitting in a store sounds like a very dim reason to me. I would intervene. I would not intervene if a child got spanked in the parking lot for running away from Mommy. The safety of the child needs to come first. This is a slippery slope question that speaks to our core values. Please ask and answer more like this. Go Penguins.. (GT reference!)

well it depends on how hard was the hit and why the child was getting hit

I say, as long as it is with an open hand (IE not a fist or backhand). you dont have a right to say anything.

I live in a state in which you can smack your child. I am not saying beat your child but a smack on the bottom isn't going to kill them. Honestly I think that is the problem with kids these days. They know that they can get away with anything because they know you can't hit them. My child called child protective services on me when I took away her playstation. She actually thought that I would be punished. The case worker quickly told her that I was allowed to punish her, even smack her on the bottom if she misbehaved. That quickly changed her attitude.

i would glare at her and make it obvious that i didn't approve. i don't believe in fighting violence with violence but i might say something like "do you think thats really going to help"?

It depends. if she was hitting him very lightly, telling him/her what they did wrong, and was calm about it, I would do nothing except silently disapprove from the next checkout line. if she was beating on him and hurting him badly, and it was not calm or controlled, i would do anything i could to stop it.

There are several different things that could make this very wrong or not, but assuming the mother is actually hitting and not spanking, my first reaction (were it legal) would be to walk up to the mother and start hitting her in exactly the same fashion she's hitting the child. When she stops to ask me what the **** I'm doing, I'd tell her that every time I see her strike the child, I'm going to do the same thing to her, so she knows exactly what she's doing to another human being.

If it was a tap on the bum for doing something bad i'd let it go, if she was full hitting the child i'd dfinately step in or call the store's security guard.

Nothing.

I really don't know. If it was just a little spank I would do nothing. If she was beating the crap out of it I am sure I would feel like beating the crap out of her.

I'd go and break the wrist of the hand she was using.

If the parent isn't hitting the child in an angry way, I'd do nothing. The world is full of criminals whose parents never hit them, never taught them right from wrong. As a society, we've evolved in a terrible misconception that children should be untouchable (physical discipline). Yes, there are a lot of psychos out there who kill their own children, but those are extreme cases. We're talking about normal parents. In fact we wouldn't even have to hit our children if we only used the "one, two, three" rule, where you ask your child to behave or do something, let them know you'll count till three, but if you get to three she/he will be punished, and you must follow thru and punish. Otherwise, your child will learn not only to misbehave, but also to laugh at you.

actually, at the weekend i was in morrisons and a little boy, id say about 3 ish,and he walked off while she was lookin in a fridge, she was runnin round like a headless chicken tryin to find him and he was just stood round the corner, she shouted his name quite loutly, she raised her hand to him and bellowed at him "dont you ever ever run wander off again you stupid little boy" and she was about to hit him, i saw it and glared at her, gave her a real dirty look and just walked past her and said to her "why dont you put him in your trolley love, then he wont go wandering off" she was so out of order! felt like slappin her myself, the silly bitch! a little slip on the hand is nothing but over the top is discusting!

Well there is a diffence between spanking and beating and if the child was misbehaving it is really the parents choice on if they swat them or don't, but if they are slapping or beating them, its a different story.

A couple of weeks ago I was at the bus stop. A woman was also there with a little boy aged about two years. The little boy kept on running out into the road while she just stood there smoking without a care in the world, every time this child ran out into the road I thought that I was going to have a heart attack as I could see an accident waiting to happen. The little boy ran straight out in the road and was missed only by inches by a car. She then grabbed him and started beating him he was like a lttle rag doll as she grabbed and pulled him, and she must have used every swear word under the sun at him. I asked her why she was beating him as he was a child and instead of standing there smoking she should have been holding his hand. She told me to mind my own F.....g buisness and if I don't shut up she would beat me as well and throw me in front of a bus. I explained to her that people like her are cowards and would never hit an adult, they just hit small defenseless children, I also told her if she layed one more finger on him again I would ring the police...She told me to P...off, and stormed off.

Cringe.

hello,if she were beating up on her child id find the nearest security guard and let him know about it,if she were just diciplining the child id mind my own business.this happened to my cousin who gave her son a few youd better not do that again taps on his behind,then she left the store only to have a cop knock on her door a while later,someone in the store saw her hit her son and called the cops,they followed her home!

if a parent was punching pounding beating on their child, then I would call the police and notify the store manager (that way she will not be able to leave the store, until the police got there). Because lets say u did call the police, but not the store manager. Then she would be gone and then who knows what could appear on news after that incident. Something more serious could happen next. ALWAYS NOTIFY THE STORE MANAGER AS WELL AS THE POLICE IF U ARE IN THE STORE. NO I AM NOT A STORE MANAGER. I AM A HAIRSTYLIST :D

I would confront her, stop her, then call the police if she continues. A spank is different from actually hitting the child.

If she was beating, call the police. Spanking, lite smack; Good for the kid. Kids rule parents these days and that is sad

nothing if i dont see any bruises on the kid. chances are there's a reason for it

i wud cheer to hav her beat him even harder and maybe even join in on the beating

depends really a little tap on the hand or on the backside then i wouldnt do anythings but if it was around the face or really hard then i would say something if i thought it was out of order.

I would grab the child and wouldn't care if it wasn't my child.And then call 911 on my cell phone.

This could be a tricky one. Most people dont realize, but stepping in when a parent is smacking their child in the store could lead to way worse things for that child when they get home. The best thing is asses what is really going on. Is the parent really going to hurt the child. And I dont mean make them cry, but really hurt them. If they are going to really be hurt, by what is taking place, by all means step in. But if the mother is just doing enough to make the child cry or enough to get them to obey, then there is two choices. Do nothing or destract the parent. Say something like "I just love your hair" or shirt or what ever, use something to get their attention off of the child and on to you. Ask them if they know where something is in the store. Use good judment. I think a parent has the right to spank their child, but not beat their kids. If I seen a mom give her child a swat in the store I wouldnt do anything, in fact I swat my kids if they need it. But if I seen a parent over doing it, and possible abuse but not sure, I would interupt and distract them. It could just be a bad day and stress they are having. And If I point out what a bad parent they are being, that would only add to the stress and proabably the child to be in even more trouble once they got home. But if I thought they were really going to hurt them , I am bardging in and im going to give them a piece of my mind and call the cops.

Well, I probably would mind my own bussiness.

I have seen a mother violently shake her child in the store and I walked over and asked if I could help. She told me to mind my own business and I told her that i was concerned that she might be getting too frustrated to see the situation clearly and asked her if she wanted to talk. She started crying and talked about how she never has any help and she can't handle him anymore. I walked through the store with her and helped her son find the things she needed.

"Stop!" If she didn't, I wouldn't mind calling the authorities.

The question is sexist... fathers also hit what would you do then? or is it easier to confront a woman? and Please, show of hands, how many folks above, who advocate hitting by parents also advocate having their own children hit people smaller then them? On another note What would you do if you saw a 17-year-old hitting a 2-year old, (could be the parent, maybe not) What about a non-relative 28-year-old hitting a 10-year-old? How do you know the guy, or gal in the store hitting the child IS their parent? Maybe it's a person attempting to make off with the child, and they're hitting them to silence them? The answer for me is to alert some authority, or step in and ask about the situation. Like "Hey lady, you've made me uncomfortable, so I need to know what's going on here?" I worked at AMES for awhile, so I've seen plenty of these situations. Some are obviously just discipline as noted above. I don't approve, but it's none of my business. Some interactions are more then discipline, a man punched a seven-year-old because he asked to use the bathroom, a woman slapped an infant (lesss then 18 months) for crying (PS It didn't have the desired effect) One woman grabbed a child about 6 and pulled his shoulder out-of-joint, not because the child misbehaved, but because the man who was with them was about to buy the child a toy of which the mother disapproved. The police were called, the mother left in handcuffs.... like it or not that is today's reality.

First let me say im a firm supporter of busting a CHILD ASS. If that parent is going up side the child head or something then maybe something should be said. If its a couple of pops on the rear end,hand etc. hell even a pop in the mouth cause he/she wants to have a debate with the parent then let them be. Problem today is everyone wants to holler child abuse and when that child goes and do something to get them locked up or whatever...mom and dad are wandering where did we go wrong. Not saying if that child did get popped whipped etc they would be okay,but old school ass whipping and obeying the parent or the neighbor who told to stop doing what your doing i support. Especially in the store.

id beat the shit out of the mom

BEAT THEM SENSELESS....ALL OF THEM....WE ALREADY HAVE A GOOD 20 BILLION CITIZENS IN THE U.S....THE BABY BOOM IS OVER PEOPLE...USE A CONDOM FOR GOD SAKES

nothing and it depends how and what she is using to hit her child

I'd like to meet the person who would dare say something about me slapping my childs hand in public.

To be quite honest, I've witnessed what I considered a "child abuse" at a grocery store years ago, I felt phsyically ill in my stomach after witnessed a mother slapping her child across the face because her child was screaming and throwing temper tantrums not only she did it once but twice, I walked up to her and grab her arm and said "if you slap your child one more time, may God help me lady!" I don't understand any of this, I've been racking my brains on why would anyone think it is okay to lay a hand on a child in an anger manner and using that as an excuse to disciplining a child. You should always remain calm and firm while dealing with a situation like this no matter where you are, slapping a child across the face is a big NO NO for me.

Honestly I'd step in. No kid deserves to be hit by there parent or anyone else for that matter. There is no reason to hit a child, no matter what the case is. If I seen that I'd step in and show the parent how it feels to get hit, then I'd report her ass!!!

If it's more than a slap on the butt, and if I can tell she intends to do further harm to the child, I would step in and probably get store security. I hate it when people think they can get away with doing that in public. It's bad enough in private; you don't have to drag it out for everyone to see.

If a mother is willing to hit her child in a store, what do you think she is willing to do when nobody is watching? The correct thing to do is go to customer service and ask for store security to handle the situation. You can also call the police, and/or follow the person out of the store and record their license plate number...and report to the proper authorities. Child abuse is against the law, and it needs to be reported.

Well I would go up to that mother and say "Why are you doing this?" Then I will tell her not to do that in a public area when you could be seen by the police or someone who works for child services

i guess it comes down to where the part of the body she was hitting her child......if she slapped her child in the face, and i saw that, i would probably knock the bitch out......

depends on how she hits her kid? a spankin or a punch???

Get very angry Why do they bring them to a store and humiliate themselves and show that they cannot control there own kids except by violence. annmac

Well if the child is being bratish and shes spanking that child on the arse telling her to straighten up i think to myself now if more people would just do that we would have less fit throwing yelling kids in stores .There is always a difference in spanking and beating