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Mum's controversial parenting question sparks heated debate: 'This is how brats are made'

By Naomi White|

There's a certain dread every parent feels when entering a playground.

Whatever etiquette they may have instilled in terms of turn taking, using equipment as it's intended or playing nicely is often forgotten the second little people walk through the gate.

And when there's two kids vying for the same space, there's that moment of 'will I have to intervene here'. While the easy solution is just to move your own child on, some things can't be overlooked.

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The mum argues adults should be able to tell off misbehaving children. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

For one mum, that was a girl kicking her son in the face. But when she told the little girl off, she was surprised to see other parents leap to the girl's defense, leading her to ask if it's ever OK to chastise another child in public.

Explaining that she'd visited an indoor play centre with her 10-year-old son recently, he'd been playing happily until one girl left him in tears.

"The next minute he's being kicked at by an older girl (she looked much older but must have been a tall 12) in the FACE so that he can't reach the top (she is at the top, sitting in the area before you slide)," the mum shared on Mumsnet.

"I call up for [my son] to come down, but he holds on and reaches the top. I can see some chat going on (it's quite high), next thing a younger boy grabs his face, shoves him towards the slide and punches his back to push him down."

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The girl kicked him in the face after he asked her to let him through. (Getty)

After her son said they reacted when he told them they couldn't stop people from coming to the stop, ?the mum decided to discipline them herself. Calling over a staff member, she relayed the incident.

"?When she spoke to the older girl she denied everything (of course). I moved over to say 'I saw you, you're not being truthful. You can't kick people. We need to speak to an adult about this'. She objected loudly," she said.

"At this point two other mothers stepped in, one said to the girl 'Don't let her speak to you like that. Go and see your parent. She doesn't have the right to speak to you as you're a child'."

"Her friend added that if I had spoken directly to her children she'd be livid."

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The boy was left in tears following the incident. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

When the parents of both children ignored her complaints, and with the other mums still angry with her, the mum decided to leave. But asked if it was really that unreasonable to discipline children under these circumstances. ?But mums on the site were divided.

"Nope, this is how brats are made. Safe in the knowledge their parents will always be there to back them up," one said.

"I would have done the same. This is why some kids behave so badly. When they are pulled up on their behaviour their parents back them up. It's very bad, lazy parenting," agreed another.

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The woman's stern words to the kids caused other adults to get involved. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

"If my child had been kicking someone in the face I would absolutely expect them to be told off by any adult who had witnessed it. I would have done the same," a third chimed in.

However others argued it was never ok to speak to a child without their parents there. ?

"You should have asked the member of staff to find the parent before telling off the child, it's totally unacceptable for two adults to chastise a child when the child doesn't know them, that could be so intimidating and I'd be furious if it happened to my child," argued one.

"If another adult who isn't an employee and isn't known to my child wants to tell them off, I'd expect to be there," said another.

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