At what point would you intervene, if at all.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Defintely no reason at all to hit a child over the head, especially with an object! I would have said something. I understand why you didn't but IMO no matter how badly behaved a child has been there is NO excuse to ever hit a child on the head.

A simple calm "no, no back on the rug" would have more appropriate but the way you described they were well behaved so the way the father reacted was very uncalled for. So what if before church they were acting up, children don't remember what they've done previously and wouldn't understand why daddy hit them.

[lady_neon]

Did anyone else in the congregation see any of this happening? I would have felt it was my christian duty to talk to these parents and help them do a better job with their children.
This is child abuse. It should be reported. If you saw this happening in a child care setting or regularly in a play group or another parents home you would report it. Why is it OK because it happened in church?

Some others possibly saw, but I was right next to it. It's not ok because it happened in a church, it's not ok at all. I don't think I'd report it but given I don't have children of my own I feel awkward and out of place saying something. I know my dad has given firm talking to's to other people who have done similar. But given he is a 50+ year old man who's raised kids he probably has a lot more constructive things to say other than my awkward stutters.

Omg that is disgusting, I don't think I would have been able to hold my tongue. This seems very different to say, seeing a mum or dad at the end of their patience for the day and giving the kid a smack or something.....seems like its his choice of discipline. Was he hitting the baby too? Mind u when it comes to discipline a 2 year old is like a baby too

Yep that's my point, it seemed like normal disciplining methods. It was a struggle not to say something, I think if he'd have looked at my face it would have said enough. It scares me what he might do in the privacy of his home

I might speak to someone of authority at church, I feel uncomfortable mentioning names but he/she might know who I'm talking about... surely everybody else has witnessed it! Too bad the first person that comes to mind for talking to about this is the guys MIL!

[Dansta]

i tend to shoot from the hip so i'd have said something and maybe snached the book too and loudly asked what kind of christian moral coade is the man reading from because its one that needs to be re-written.

i too shudder to think how he acts at home towards the children behind closed doors :-/

[LimeSlice]

Just as an aside... it disturbs me thinking about what "heavy book" one would find in a Church... only 2 spring to mind and neither I would think, should be disrespected by being used to abuse a child.

[lady_neon]

Limeslice it was a children's book (not heavy like an old bible). A4 size and about 3/4 inch thick. Nonetheless, it was a book :|

[Rouge]

I'm almost shaking reading this.

I would have said something.

Why do we say nothing? Please don't think I'm having a go at you here, but we really need to drop the mentality of not causing embarrassment by biting our tongues. Not ok. Turning a blind eye never helped anyone. Ever.

Would I have gone troppo? Absolutely not. I probably would have grabbed the book mid air and said hey, we're in church they are just as welcome as we are. Then I probably would have went to the leader of the church and talked about getting some help for them. Not to shame them but to help them. People don't openly parent their kids this way because they are monsters. It's because they don't have the tools. And yes some people are naive. But I have seen people like this grow and change with a little kindness and education. Saying nothing and flying off your handle at ignorance are equally as unhelpful.

Always do something. Just be wise about it.