Question about how far is too far...

Okay, Saturday evening there was a birthday party across the street at the clubhouse at my apartments which is directly across my apartment. And Saturday me and some others were sitting on my balcony and we could see what was going on inside the clubhouse...
It was apparent that they were having a birthday party for a little boy cause they arrived first and little boy was wearing a birthday hat and his parents were setting up. Now the boy looked to be 4 and he was outside with his dad.. And all of a sudden the dad smacked him in the face with a closed fist so hard the little boy fell on the ground and he left the boy laying and crying in the street. I yelled real loud something like, did he just punch his kid in the face and so I guess he heard me and went and picked his kid up and closed the door to the club house.. But we could still see in. So we go inside and Im still watching cause I dont know Im just really bothered by what I saw.. so like a few minutes later, I see the dad grab the little boy by the shirt, lift him off the groud completely high in the air by his shirt, throw him across the room, and then kicked him.. Now I am freakin livid.. I dont ever get into peoples business when it comes to discipling their children, but this was abuse.. I was really bothered and really angry and was about to run over their and sock this dad in the eye...but I know that wasnt a good idea. If he does this in plan view what do they do to their kid behind closed doors..
Now, I just feel like I should do something ya know, say something to someone, anything. Cause it was very disturbing to see this kid being throw and kicked like a ragdoll.. and also smacked so hard in the face with a closed fist to the point where you fall to the ground..
If you saw this, what would you do? Any advice would be great, thanks.

 

Kayla honey you've got such a big heart - that child is lucky you saw what you did. Call the cops, call child protection services...call them both. Someone needs to protect this child. Don't wait - the next time could be worse.

 

OMG!!! That is so horrible! I am so sorry you had to see something like that. I would have called the police in a second. This is more than a spanking. Poor baby. That "man" needs to be in jail. I would still call the police or CPS and tell them exactly what you saw. Do you know who they are?

 

I would definitely call the cops, I couldn't stand to see that.

either that or resort to vigilante violence and smash the guys head with a baseball bat...

 

I can get their names by calling the clubhouse, which i was going to stop by after work and talk to them to get the parents name and so forth and i dont know if i should call police or child protective services.. I really regret not doing anything at the time...

 

Don't feel guilty about not doing anything right away. It's hard to absorb. I would call both CPS and the cops. Did anyone else see what happened-i know your friends-but what about other party guests?

 

I dont think anyone else saw cause it was when the parents just arrived and were setting up.. but the mom was in the clubhouse when the dad grabbed him and so forth..

 

Child Protective Services are not always called by the police (although they should be, if the "man" impresses the cops and lies his way out of it, nothing will be done.) I would call the police AND CPS.

This is outright abuse, no arguments about it. This "man" has no right to place his hands on a child.

 

you really should call the cops of child protection. It will be a hassle on your part, but think of all the pain that little boy is going though.

wow you certainly are encountering a lot bad stuff that has nothing to do with you, but you should probably tell someone, lately

 

mmm...everything anyone has said here is good...given all that fails you could call the bigger badder blokes in to teach daddy a lesson...seriously, there are always bigger and badder men than that are around and sometimes if nothing is gonna be done about it maybe this fellow just needs a good smacking round the head...
okay maybe I am just being a bit mad but when you say clubhouse here in Aus that means bikers which means they are virtually untouchable by the law...I hope it is different there but if that is the case then I would be definitely looking at who would want to smack the shit out of his stupid and mean and disrespectful man...normally that is other bikers who have say in this sort of scene..if not then just do what you can and do not put yourself in between people in ths case, you are a chick and know that I would be down there in a split second but I would then have the shit beaten out of me and I figure that will not solve anything...stupid bloody people...

 

and if it aint bikers doing it then get on their case and get them to take care of it!!!

 

I totally agree with everyone! This little boy needs some help!

 

well i called my apartments and im stopping by the clubhouse to get their information so I can call it in and so forth..
I really regret not doing anything at the time, I wish I could go back and call as soon as I saw him do that, I really do...

 

Don't worry about what you should have or could have done sweetie. Just do everything you can do now! That poor child doesn't deserve to be treated that way and it sounds like he really needs help.

 

I hate being on the spot like that and seeing peope abuse their kids. I feel the same I dont ever know what to do but I want to just knock the parents out!

 

damn, i've NEVER seen anyone hit their kids like that - i'd have been right in the middle of it though, i've been called a brassy bigmouth bitch enough times to jump in someones face. go get'm mystical_shroom!!!

 

OMG, I would have freaked out! My heart started racing just while I was reading your post and I literally felt sick! I just can't imagine neither I nor my husband doing that to any of our children!

That's awful! That poor baby! I would definitely make a phone call. I mean, in some ways, okay, it's not really your business, but what if something happens to that child? More than likely this kind of behavior is something that happens frequently.

It's definitely abuse.

 

Don't regret anything. When you're faced with a traumatic event like that, sometimes it's difficult to know what to do because you're just so shocked!

 

Okay now there is a problem...when i called the clubhouse yesterday the lady Tina said she would give me their names...
and when i got their this other lady was there and i explained the situation and she said she doesnt know who told me that I could get their names, but they cant give out the information. I asked what am I suppose to do and so forth, she said I should have called at the time.. yeah easy for her to say..
I feel horrible cause it was really bad what i saw and me explaining it just doesnt cut it cause it was worse seeing it than I explained..
I asked her in certain cases if they were aloud to devulge that info and she said no...
So, now i feel even worse than what I did...i would think for in instance like this they could at least give me some info..

 

You could still report what you saw. The police or CPS could get a warrant for that information, couldn't they?