That is a tricky situation. You could call protective child services, and describe what you experienced. If there is a history of abuse, verbal or otherwise, you could be doing the perfect thing. However, if the fight were a random occurrence, and CPS takes the kids away, it could be a nightmare of red tape and misery for the family.
By calling 911, you have created a bit of a paper trail, so hopefully, if it happens again, there will be some history.
I would suggest keeping an eye out, and if you see the same thing occur with them, then definitely call, but I think you need to go with your gut instincts.
I work in this field, and I would suggest calling. Were you a mandated reporter such as a teacher or doctor walking home from the gym, you'd probably be legally obligated to call. If there isn't a problem, CPS will figure it out. If there is a problem, CPS can connect them to the services they need. CPS is usually notoriously lazy so they are more likely to say "freak occurrence, case closed" than upend the lives of the innocent. The odds of them taking the kids away right off the back are really slim unless there is something seriously bad going on.
This is the kind of thing that should not happen even once.
I was once in that horrible position of being a teacher where abuse was brought to my attention. I had to report it, and go through all that. It was a nightmare for everyone involved. I'm glad that you have the professional position to reply to notjenschiz's post.
Because notjenschiz is not a mandated reporter, he is able to report anonymously and I do not believe there is any follow up involved. I dunno. At what point do you stop trusting th system?
I actually trust the system to do what it's supposed to, but I've heard of several verified instances where families have had big trouble. The one that I mentioned was just my personal one. A friend of mine was friends with a family who had the habit of kissing their children on the lips, which I don't do, but I know that many families do. Someone saw this through the window, and the resulting problems lasted for about 5 years. The troubles that they went through were just heartbreaking to hear. I guess it depends on the local field agents and their superior's attitudes, investigative abilities, and temperaments. Pretty much like any department that works with the public. I think the family in question was in New York. For my student, and that family, the process was destructive, rather than beneficial.
That's horrible. I'm glad that CPS was able to help. I volunteered at the Y teaching youth martial arts. A big part of my inspiration for doing so was to instill better respect and kindness and compassion in my students so that they would lead lives as supporters, not abusers. Abuse is so prevalent in our society, and insidious. It's a very had enemy to fight. I had my share as a kid too, and the want/need/desire to fight against that is hard to resist.
I grew up in a physically abusive household and CPS was called. The parentals had us lie. I lied because my parents told me that if I did not I would be taken away and placed in a foster home in the ghetto. (I later learned this would not have happened anyway, but they probably would have mandated anger management or something which would have helped.)
CPS did say something useful, which was, they told my parents that now they were on record and they would be watching us, and any future reports would more likely result in our removal from the home.
So my parents stopped hitting us with stuff that left marks and went for stuff that did not leave marks, which was a slight improvement in my quality of life. Thank you CPS.
By calling 911, you have created a bit of a paper trail, so hopefully, if it happens again, there will be some history.
I would suggest keeping an eye out, and if you see the same thing occur with them, then definitely call, but I think you need to go with your gut instincts.
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This is the kind of thing that should not happen even once.
My two cents.
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I grew up in a physically abusive household and CPS was called. The parentals had us lie. I lied because my parents told me that if I did not I would be taken away and placed in a foster home in the ghetto. (I later learned this would not have happened anyway, but they probably would have mandated anger management or something which would have helped.)
CPS did say something useful, which was, they told my parents that now they were on record and they would be watching us, and any future reports would more likely result in our removal from the home.
So my parents stopped hitting us with stuff that left marks and went for stuff that did not leave marks, which was a slight improvement in my quality of life. Thank you CPS.
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