# Should an adult be allowed to physically move a stranger's misbehaving kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337 "2007-04-23T17:42:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/81 "2007-04-24T21:00:21Z")
[QUOTE=D\_Odds] One of the articles I read about this said he was doing this, to no avail. [/QUOTE] Well, that doesn’t make much sense. How many pucks did this kid _have_? A bucket? ---
**Author:** ![SnakesCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@SnakesCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnakesCatLady)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/82 "2007-04-24T21:23:26Z")
[QUOTE=featherlou] Well, that doesn’t make much sense. How many pucks did this kid _have_? A bucket? [/QUOTE] At practices here they often have a milk crate about half full of pucks. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/83 "2007-04-24T22:30:24Z")
[QUOTE=SnakesCatLady] At practices here they often have a milk crate about half full of pucks. [/QUOTE] That sounds right from when I played. At they would all be shot at me (I was a goalie). For racquetball practice, I’d take every ball no longer suitable for play and throw it into a practice bucket. That way, I wouldn’t have to constantly chase 4 or 5 balls. I’d beat them up until they no longer bounced at all or split. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2007, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/84 "2007-04-24T23:20:03Z")
Oh, okay. I was thinking it was just a kid fooling around with a handful of pucks. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/85 "2007-04-25T00:43:07Z")
I’d like to move the little bastard off the planet. ---
**Author:** ![blackhobyah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/41988e/32.png) [@blackhobyah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blackhobyah)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/86 "2007-04-25T05:39:15Z")
A few years ago I was in my local supermarket and a some stranger’s little kid, maybe four or five, just walked up to me and started punching me in the legs. He wasn’t a big kid, but he was really putting his back into it and it hurt. I took him by the shoulders and walked him back to his father, with a comment along the lines of “you should stay here” sort of thing. The kids father started screaming at me that I was an evil bitch, that his son was just showing he liked me, what an awful person I was who hated children so much. And then the father followed me around the supermarket still shrieking. Oh well, way to go Dad, easy to see where the kid learned his behaviour, and good luck to the kid’s first girlfriend. I did wonder at the time what the father supposed I should have done. Just stood there and let the child hurt me? Left the supermarket because I was being menaced by a five year old? I’m not very fond of children, but they are members of society and I try to treat them with courtesy and respect where our paths cross. While I don’t expect them to behave like adults in return, they are only children after all, I’d like to think that their parents will enforce such behaviour. Sadly, it’s not always the case. On the other hand, more often than not I meet kids who do behave well and sensibly, or who have responsible and sensible parents. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2007, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/87 "2007-04-25T13:42:30Z")
Sadly, I gave my Brady Books away to someone else training for the NYS EMT Exam a year or two ago so I cannot refer to them for cite. **Gfactor** , I’ll try to email my old instructor to get the exact charge. Thank you for the excellent research and I admit- it is possible the instructor was glomming together the civil issues to make the point in class. I would be surprised if that were the case, but it is possible. **tdn** , that’s quite a stretch from what I stated in my post. In NYS, you may not put your hands on someone without their consent. If you are being assaulted, I would think that common sense as well as a billion ( well… ) case law cites backing up the concept of “self-defense” are on your side. That is not the scenario I was discussing and I think we all realize that. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/88 "2007-04-26T05:12:11Z")
For what it’s worth, I was taught something very similar when I was learning to be a lab tech - if someone clearly states that they don’t want their blood taken, you don’t take their blood. They also mentioned charges of assault and battery if you took blood in those conditions. What you do is you tell the doctor that the patient is refusing, and he gets to have a chat with the patient (and possibly draw the blood himself). ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337/89 "2007-04-26T19:44:24Z")
[QUOTE=blackhobyah] A few years ago I was in my local supermarket and a some stranger’s little kid, maybe four or five, just walked up to me and started punching me in the legs. He wasn’t a big kid, but he was really putting his back into it and it hurt. I took him by the shoulders and walked him back to his father, with a comment along the lines of “you should stay here” sort of thing. The kids father started screaming at me that I was an evil bitch, that his son was just showing he liked me… I did wonder at the time what the father supposed I should have done. [/quote] Show the kid you like him in return. Regards, Shodan [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-an-adult-be-allowed-to-physically-move-a-strangers-misbehaving-kid/401337.md?page=4)