[Solved] Half of men wouldn't help a child

Was driving between schools, picking up my various children and at the side of the road were two boys; the youngest about 5 or 6, the other a couple of years older. The little one was bawling his eyes out and neither were going anywhere. So I parked (it was actually, right outside my house), and asked if they were OK. The big one knew where he was going, the little one had decided he was lost and refused to go anywhere with his brother. So the brother wandered off home on his own. Turned out I knew roughly who they were, so I made a couple of phone calls and tracked down their address and walked the little one home.

What struck me was, I then had to make some more phone calls to sort my own children out, who would be waiting for me at the school gates. Whilst I was happy helping out and walking him home, I would have been very uncomfortable putting him in the car and driving him home (which would have left me enough time to get my own kids too).

...and yes, I did have some of my children with me as well. If I hadn't, I suspect it would have added a whole new level of complexity.

It's a tricky one - I think if I was worried about a child in danger, I would wait with the child, but probably ring the police to assist if necessary. I'd hate to risk being branded a paedophile or anything like that, but I'd hate to have to live with the thought that anything might have happened to a child if I did nothing.

I am not sure I could walk past a child in any kind of trouble - and I hope that someone would help my kids if they were lost.

I agree that I would use the police to assist but I would never forgive myself if something sinister was to happen.

Isn't it awful that we should feel like this?

I totally agree that I would be devastated if anything happened and I hadn't helped and also if it was my kids and something happened and nobody helped because they didn't want to be branded a paedophile. So sad.

I was out for a run last summer and some kids had lost their dog and I helped them find it for about half an hour because they were really upset. The whole time I was helping them I was worried that one of their parents would turn up and accuse me of something. What a [censored] world.