“[Am I The Jerk] For Calling The Police On A 2YO Child Running Around My Neighborhood Unsupervised?”

Summer is a great time for kids, when they have the best opportunity to run around the streets carelessly, play with friends, and generally have nearly the best time of their lives. However, sometimes it so happens that parents actually take the words “run around the streets” too literally, and then vigilant neighbors have to step in.

Today’s story, initially told by the user u/pm_me_jupiter_photos, talks about one of such cases. When a man, seeing two small children roaming completely unsupervised on the street, decided to become involved—all he actually achieved was a big conflict with his neighbor.

More info: Reddit

The author of the post is a 35-year-old man, and one day, he saw a toddler walking outside unsupervised

Toddler boy walking alone on a quiet street while neighbor has meltdown after calling cops on 2YO wandering the streets.

Image credits: ArthurHidden / Freepik (not the actual photo)

The man approached the kid and found out there actually was a supervisor—but it was a 7-year-old girl

Text post asking if they were wrong for calling the police on a 2-year-old wandering the streets alone unsupervised.

Text excerpt describing a 2-year-old wandering the streets alone with a neighbor’s child in a suburban neighborhood.

Text describing a neighbor’s meltdown after a guy called cops on a 2-year-old wandering the streets alone.

Image credits: pm_me_jupiter_photos

Man with glasses wearing a blue shirt looking out window, reacting to neighbor meltdown after calling cops on toddler alone outside

Image credits: user6699736 / Freepik (not the actual photo)

The man decided to report this case to the police and stayed there until the cop arrived

Text excerpt describing a dispatcher instructing a caller to keep children in place until police arrive to talk to the parents.

Guy’s neighbor has meltdown after he called cops on 2-year-old wandering the streets alone, causing a heated confrontation.

Text showing a 32-year-old man refusing to take a 2-year-old child inside without parental knowledge amid neighbor meltdown.

Image credits: pm_me_jupiter_photos

Man with beard making a phone call indoors, reflecting concern about neighbor meltdown after calling cops on 2YO wandering alone

Image credits: eyesartist / Freepik (not the actual photo)

However, right after that another neighbor showed up—and started berating the author for not handling it all himself

Neighbor having meltdown after guy called cops on 2-year-old wandering streets alone, concerned about child safety.

Text message showing neighbor’s meltdown after guy called cops on 2-year-old wandering streets alone in the neighborhood.

Text showing a neighbor reacting angrily after a guy called cops on a 2-year-old wandering the streets alone.

Text on a white background saying "So am I the a******e?" representing a neighbor’s meltdown after calling cops on 2YO wandering alone.

Image credits: pm_me_jupiter_photos

That lady took the kids and the cop agreed—but the author just decided to seek some support online

So, the Original Poster (OP) tells us that one day he saw a small boy, about two years old, running right along the street not far from his house, and no adults were around. Our hero knows all the neighboring kids, but he definitely didn’t know this child. Cars were driving along the street from time to time, and the author became worried about the boy.

He left the house and approached the child. He was walking with a 7-year-old girl, but she couldn’t say who exactly she was to the boy. Our hero didn’t know the girl by sight either, and after thinking about it, the OP decided to call the police. The man stayed with the children until the police officer arrived—but after the cop showed up, the main events began to unfold.

Suddenly, the OP’s neighbor came out of her house, and completely unexpectedly attacked him for reporting this situation to the police and not handling it himself. According to this woman, they’re used to taking care of the kids in the neighborhood on their own, and the author just needed to take the kids home. Well, according to the OP, it wouldn’t be the best idea for a 35-year-old man to take home two small children.

However, the policeman, apparently, held a different point of view. After the neighbor expressed a desire to take both children home with her, he got ready to leave. Our hero noticed that the neighbor was not their mother, but the policeman simply shrugged and said that in Ohio there’s no minimum age for children to walk unsupervised. However, the OP decided to vent about it online, just in case.

Police car with flashing lights on a residential street after guy’s neighbor called cops on 2YO wandering alone.

Image credits: Nathan Stein / Pexels (not the actual photo)

Well, yes—in the state of Ohio, there is no minimum age to leave kids unsupervised. However, this applies more to a situation when the child is left home alone. At home, not on the street. For instance, Zanesville Times Recorder notes that “A child’s ability to make safe decisions and sense of maturity should be taken into consideration when a parent is deciding if they should leave them home alone.”

However, this situation clearly doesn’t fit this description, because the kid was actually wandering the street accompanied by a 7-year-old girl who, as the original poster recalls, had difficulty even saying her last name. So, making safe decisions and a sense of maturity are most likely not the issue here. So, it’s quite possible that the policeman was simply happy that the woman was going to take care of the kids, thus leaving him alone.

By the way, in the comments on the original post, there was also another policeman who expressed the opinion that their colleague acted clearly unprofessionally here. Quite often, according to this responder, such cases hide parents’ neglect or even more disturbing situations. So the policeman should’ve gone all the way and not entrusted the children to another completely random person.

As for our hero, almost all the people in the comments supported him and wrote that he acted absolutely right. “Thank you for doing your best to look out for those kids,” someone added quite reasonably. “Your neighbor overreacted, and was rude.” By the way, what do you, our dear readers, think about the described case? Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below the post.

Most commenters said that both the neighbor and the policeman behaved unreasonably here, and praised the author for his vigilance

Screenshot of a Reddit conversation about a neighbor’s meltdown after calling cops on 2YO wandering streets alone.

Screenshot of Reddit conversation discussing neighbor’s meltdown after calling cops on 2YO wandering streets alone.

Screenshot of a Reddit discussion about a guy’s neighbor having a meltdown after calling cops on a 2-year-old wandering alone.

Reddit conversation discussing neighbor’s meltdown after calling cops on 2YO wandering streets alone.

Screenshot of a Reddit comment discussing a neighbor’s meltdown after calling cops on 2-year-old wandering streets alone.

Commenter discussing neighbor’s meltdown after calling cops on 2YO wandering streets alone for child safety concerns.

Screenshot of a forum comment discussing a neighbor’s meltdown after calling cops on a 2-year-old wandering alone outdoors.

Comment discussing a neighbor's meltdown after calling cops on a 2-year-old wandering streets alone.

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