I picked up on that, actually. IMO, that’s just inexperience talking. The kid will learn better soon enough.
And that earful is best delivered by the parents, not J. Random Stranger. If you feel too strongly about the issue to just blow it off, then locate the parents and talk to them. It works. I know from experience. Just be polite and tactful.
Oh, I don’t know if I’d say that. My experience dealing with parents is that many of them will go to bat for their kid even if the kid is dead wrong. A co-worker told a story at lunch today about a kid he caught cheating with another kid. Their answers were identical, but one kid convinced his parents he was innocent, the parents called the principal, were totally hoodwink. Unfortunately for the little weasel, the other kid told the truth. Much crow was eaten in that household.
My point is not that you should feel free to discipline other people’s children. My point is that you can’t necesssarily expect the parents to do it either.