Feeling extremely guilty after WDW visit

[denisenh]

Dear Lord in Heaven, please bless this child, raise this child up, protect him and give him the strength to withstand the treatment he receives and to come out shining at the other end. Please do what You think best with the adults involved. Amen.

 

[Dizneefamily+4]

I read the whole series of his books. unfortunately he continued to experience abuse in foster homes.

I read them all too - each one more disgusting and disheartening than the last. Just a sad, sad story.

 

[Dan Murphy]

That is so sad.

 

[ronandannette]

Dear Lord in Heaven, please bless this child, raise this child up, protect him and give him the strength to withstand the treatment he receives and to come out shining at the other end. Please do what You think best with the adults involved. Amen.

I like it - a lot. But I'd have fixed up that last sentence with the same imprecatory tone that David so often used: "...and smite them both with a withering curse..."

 

[crazee4mickey]

I am glad in a sad way that there are others who wouldn't know how to react....at least I know, I am not the only one.

Poor little monkey...

 

[Twilight Sparkle]

I really hope that little boy lives with his mother and has a much better situation there than with his dad. My heart breaks for that child.

I don't know what I would have done had I witnessed this scene, but I'm sure what I would have wanted to do would be highly frowned upon by polite society.

That child will be in my prayers.

 

[mummabear]

I would like to think that I would have said something to the boy.
Something along the lines of "you don't deserve this, adults shouldn't be treating you like this and it's not your fault. When you get home, tell your Mom, tell your teacher, your doctor until someone's listens and protects you from this"

 

[Disney1fan2002]

I know I have seen some unhappy adults in WDW screaming at their kids, but I have never witnessed anything like this, that would make me concerned for the boys well-being at home. You know, if they hated the kid that much, why bring him to the happiest place on earth? It didn't seem like anyone in that party was enjoying the trip. So why were they there? They spend hundreds of dollars (if local) or maybe thousands of dollars (if tourists) on the trip.

I think I would have just come out and asked the adults that. If I was in line for as long as the OP, I would have had to turn around and ask them why they were still here if the trip was such a disaster. Bring the boy back to his mom, and then the two of you can go do something fun with each other. Then I would have suggested they never involve the boy in their lives at all, if he was such an evil monster.

This thread is a great reminder that we all have the technology to help these children in the future. Bring out your phone and start recording, then post it on social media. Like others have said. So many of these videos go viral and some even get charges brought against them once they are identified.

 

[mom2rtk]

I like the social media approach. But I probably would have taped some then let a bunch of people pass.OP, you couldn't do much in that setting but you weren't stuck. it's up to you whether to continue to stay in that spot in line.

 

[scottmel]

OP this will stay with you a LONG TIME. When my DD17 was 3 we were having ice cream on one of the benches at MK and parents were horrible to this little girl I am guessing to be 8.At one point she spilled ice cream on her dress and was DRAGGED by one arm into the bathroom. It was just DD and I so I followed them with DD. I do believe at one point they had her head in the toilet. I kept knocking on the door asking can I help. The woman assured me all was fine. I could see thru the crack of the door that it wasn't alright. We were there in January and place wasn't crowded and I had DD3 I was lugging around so hauled her out of there fast as I could told a CM who radioed for the police and I stood outside. I didn't have the guts to see what this little girl looked like and we left. I cannot tell you how many times I do the mental math on her age and hope she turned out ok. And this comes from a person (me) who is extremely outspoken and offers unsolicited opinions to strangers often. horrifying. I just had no words. I understand your guilt, I felt it too, still do. Take it as a learning lesson and vow it will not happen again in your presence to ANYONE. What I witnessed has made me so much more vocal .l

 

[anniemae]

I am glad in a sad way that there are others who wouldn't know how to react....at least I know, I am not the only one.

Poor little monkey...

Like many, I am a very "mind my own business" type of person. But this was more than that. If it was just an over-tired family bickering about where to eat dinner?.......mind your business. Situations like yours always remind me of the whole "see something say something." I am trying to get better at speaking up. I read something on Facebook about those to just "go along" or "look away" are guilty too. I am not referring to you OP, just in general. I, too, am a person who has trouble speaking up and interacting with strangers and I would have been floored in your situation too.

 

[moon]

The only thing I think you could have done was to record th incident and give it to the media or post it on Youtube. These type of videos tend to go viral, and at the very least the little boy's mother could become aware of what was happening and even use the video to get sole custody. Poor baby!

 

[ronandannette]

The only thing I think you could have done was to record th incident and give it to the media or post it on Youtube. These type of videos tend to go viral, and at the very least the little boy's mother could become aware of what was happening and even use the video to get sole custody. Poor baby!

I am NOT a very broad user of social media and when first mentioned upthread, this idea seemed ridiculous to me. But having though more about it, I actually agree now that a video (clearly showing the adults and obscuring the precious little one, if possible) SHOULD be posted with a title something along the lines of "Whose Child is This?". The hope would be that someone would recognize the hideous-beast adults and let the mother know, who could then take whatever steps are necessary to protect and comfort him. I'm guessing she has NO IDEA how her little DS is getting treated and even if he comes home saying "Dad and GF were mean to me", the full magnitude is unknown.

 

[Poohlove]

My only hesitation with recording and posting on social media is once it's there it's there. If and when the child were to be identified I would fear the impact that would have. There are too many what ifs for me to be comfortable making such a bold move. If I felt compelled to record a video of the incident I would do so and then excuse myself from the line and call the police while the famil was on the ride and let a cast member know what was going on to assist. Once the police arrived I would show them the video and let them handle it.

 

[ronandannette]

My only hesitation with recording and posting on social media is once it's there it's there. If and when the child were to be identified I would fear the impact that would have. There are too many what ifs for me to be comfortable making such a bold move. If I felt compelled to record a video of the incident I would do so and then excuse myself from the line and call the police while the famil was on the ride and let a cast member know what was going on to assist. Once the police arrived I would show them the video and let them handle it.

I doubt the police would intervene in a case of verbal battery, as horrific as it was. Maybe CPS, but not the police. I've never heard of anyone being arrested for yelling at their kids, without physical violence being involved.

 

[Poohlove]

I doubt the police would intervene in a case of verbal battery, as horrific as it was. Maybe CPS, but not the police. I've never heard of anyone being arrested for yelling at their kids, without physical violence being involved.

The police would be the bridge in between. They would be able to get the identity of the people and turn the issue over to the proper agency for handling. Of course I dont expect them to arrest anyone, they do more than arrest poeple. In my opinion it's a more viable option the putting video of the incident on YouTube in hopes that it would get back to the boys mother.

 

[Turn the Page]

That situation is very sad. Unfortunately, nobody knows anything at all about the situation. We don't know what happened to set dad and his girlfriend off, we don't know how often this kind of thing happens, and we certainly don't know if the boys mother is any better. We have no idea who has custody or how much or why. It is a stretch to automatically assume the mother is any better, there is no evidence of that either.

I agree with the PP who said they didn't think the police would do anything for verbal abuse. I would second that. Also, when you throw divorce into the mix it opens up a whole can of worms involving the court system and maybe CPS that would not come into play in an intact family situation. It can be a mess under the best of circumstances.

OP, I really don't have any advice to offer regarding what you could have done. I mean short of engaging the parents in conversation and trying to suss out where they are from and contacting the authorities there. I REALLY don't like the idea others have suggested about posting a video to social media because we really don't know anything about what was going on. I know I have done things as a parent I am ashamed of and wish I could take back but posting that on social media won't help anything and may very likely cause more harm than good. I would be really shocked if CPS would do much of anything at all with that. Perhaps it depends on where you live but here DD6 came home from her biological mothers house with a black eye saying mommy hit me and we reported it and before CPS so much as interviewed her mother in person they were telling us we had to send DD6 on a 3 week vacation out of state with her. And that was proven physical abuse, not suspected verbal abuse.

 

[Turn the Page]

The police would be the bridge in between. They would be able to get the identity of the people and turn the issue over to the proper agency for handling. Of course I dont expect them to arrest anyone, they do more than arrest poeple. In my opinion it's a more viable option the putting video of the incident on YouTube in hopes that it would get back to the boys mother.

Good point.

 

[crazee4mickey]

Like many, I am a very "mind my own business" type of person. But this was more than that. If it was just an over-tired family bickering about where to eat dinner?.......mind your business. Situations like yours always remind me of the whole "see something say something." I am trying to get better at speaking up. I read something on Facebook about those to just "go along" or "look away" are guilty too. I am not referring to you OP, just in general. I, too, am a person who has trouble speaking up and interacting with strangers and I would have been floored in your situation too.

And I wish I had been brave enough to say something, I was so worried about the backlash on him.

You are right if it had been a situation where maybe something led up to it even then it would have been still hard to swallow but to go on for 90 minutes berating and saying the heartbreaking things they did to him, was inexcusable.. The way she "face palmed" him, that was very hard to see. Then to go on about how people hate him, he is evil, etc I cannot rationalize what would ever make adults treat a child that way, it was so beyond cruel.

The other thing which is totally stupid/naive on my part but when dad was telling girlfriend all about the movie "Frozen" and all the super fan "in the know" details, it shocked and saddened me to think that such an obviously huge Disney lover could be so heartless and mentally/emotionally abusive to a small child.

 

[pampam]

I too don't know how I would have handled this either. My heart breaks for the little fellow.