Angry and dissapointed.

[Chiral]

Since the weather has warmed up and the days have been getting longer I have fallen into a routine of taking my little 2 year old daughter to a really nice park no far from me. Have been going pretty much everyday, taking a backpack, blanket, sketchpad and pencils, fruit, drinks and some rollies. I usually sit near the edge of the play area so I can monitor her and get to her quickly if she gets into any bother or hurts herself etc. today was like most others, heaps of families and kids of varying ages and a good mix of cultures and races, which I like exposing my little too as often as possible. I had been sitting watching her playing and laughing, generally having a ball with the others for about an hour.

All of a sudden from behind me 4 young aboriginal kids of varying ages between 4 and 10 came bursting onto the scene. basically they started rough housing and kicking a ball recklessly, sometimes hitting people with it. I looked behind me and 2 middle aged Aboriginal women came to sit under a tree about 10 feet behind me with a box of wine and some hot chips. At first I was like mmm this could be trouble, but shrugged it off and decided to stop thinking negatively and give them the benefit of the doubt. Within 10-15mins these kids had basically cleared out the playground of all the other kids and families, most parents grabbing their kids and escorting them away from the park. I decided to stick it out and not over react like the others...bad move...

So now it was just me and my little girl and these crazy kids and their mums. I rolled a ciggy and began to watch very closely how my little one would handle them, basically she is not shy and just loves to play with anyone and has the loudest laugh and giggle you've ever heard. She was wanting to play with them and play with the ball they had. I saw one of the other kids push her over but then got down and helped her up, so I sat back down. Things started to get a little sinister thereafter as these kids gave me the impression that they wanted to hurt my little one. They lured her to go inside a house/slide thing that was obscured from my vision, they knew this as one seemed to watch me as the other three lured her inside with the ball. I got up and walked over there to get a better look, I couldn't see my little one but saw the other 3 scatter and laugh. They had grabbed her arms and pinched and slapped them leaving horrible red marks on them. She looked confused and started to cry a little. i said hey why did you do that to her..? they said she pinched them first, now thats bull cause she doesn't even know what pinching is.

Anyways I calmed her down and got her to sit with me and have a drink and some cookies. One of the boys came right up to us and reached into my backpack and grabbed at some food saying "give us some ey" I bluntly said no and pushed his hand away. At this point I should have left I s'pose, but I'm stubborn and refused to be bullied away from there because of them. Things calmed down and I let mine go back and play after assuring her that it's okay. I watched as she tried to play with them again. Once more she was knocked over flat on her back by one of them but she got up and shrugged it off. My phone rand and I momentarily was distracted by the call. In the space of about 30 seconds they had lured her back into the little slide house, I felt a real sudden panic when I looked and couldn't see her. I ran over there and caught all of them basically terrorizing her so shockingly bad I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Two of them had her arms and another behind her with his arm around her neck and the other older girl was slapping my daughter viciously across her forearms. I fucking lost it at this point and dragged her out of there. The poor little thing was terrified and confused as to what was going on. These kids scattered and ran away laughing over to their mums. That was it, this is bullshit, so I carried my daughter over to my stuff crying and packed up our stuff. I walked over to the mothers and said look what your kids did to my daughter, showing them the marks and huge red welts around her neck and arms.

In the exact words used by them this is what they said..." what do want us to do you ya fuckin hippy cunt " I said look at this, this is brutal what your kids have done, I should call the cops on your ass..! They told me to fuck off and call the cops, see if they care. Once they started on me, their kids came over and started on us as well by throwing shit at us, like empty drink cans and a ball. The mothers egged them on and laughed saying "go on fuck off ya cunt, "go.. get em Jase" one egged on one of the boys. Basically I had my daughter in one arm shielding her from any flying objects and had to walk and run backwards out of there to my car. This is not the first time I've had troubles of this nature, my older son was brutally beaten several times in his first year of public school by a bunch of aboriginal boys. It got so bad so quick that we pulled him out, converted him to catholic and put him into a catholic school, thereby costing us thousands a year for safety and an education.

What can you do in these situations, I mean I tried and tried to reason with my surroundings and not get prejudiced about the whole ordeal, but fuck me how much can you take before you say something...anyways I'm saddened and disappointed that such a horrific incident could happen so quick amongst children with no thought by the parents to even care one single bit.

[santiago]

Chiral i feel for you, unfortunately there is not alot you can do. Once my young 4yo daughter was tormented by a group of 5-8 year old siblings at a playground and it was horrible. I think it happens more when a child gets isolated by a bunch of kiddy siblings.

Probably in hindsight the best thing to do was what the other parents did and get outta there, if the situation escalated and the cops came then you would be in the wrong for 'intimidating' women and children, even if they were in the wrong morally. This family that picked on you simply has different values to your family and is bringing up there kids to be alphas. However in the long run when your little one is getting there first job there's will be going into their first adult jail.

Thats why its simply called playground politics which is so true, we have all been there and had the highs and lows of the sandpit, the poor little stinky kid in primary and the dork in high school all get picked on and it sux but thats the way nature for human beings picks the winners and the losers. In this situation you were simply outnumbered by a proverbial pack of wolves.

[Amulte]

i feel bad saying this but ive got the strong feeling that the other parents that ran away have had this happen to them before or have known somone who have.

sadly not the first time ive heard of it or somthing similar.

time we start filming everything that happens to our children (unless they are bathing) so political correctness cannot run amuk.

but best we remember not to "let one rotten apple spoil the bunch" so to speak.

Chiral your story brought me to tears.... if i remember correctly (and you are who i think, its been a while) ive only met you and yours once and your babe is the sweetest, sad it could happen to a cute happy thing.

[ballzac]

The phrase "once bitten, twice shy" comes to mind. You saw a group of children assault your child and then let her 'play' with them again. Perhaps you were kind of overcompensating. Not wanting to be prejudiced, you let them get away with more than you should have. I don't have children, but I have on occasion taken my nephew to the playground, and thankfully nothing like this has ever happened, but if it did, whether it was a group of ratbag white kids, or a group of ratbag aboriginal kids, or a group of ratbag lesbian communist kids, I would be out of there quick smart.

Not meaning to have a go though. I think you've learnt your lesson.

I really don't think race needs to be an issue here.

[Chiral]

Amulte, yup that's me, thanks for your replies and not taking it as a race issue it isn't that at all, moreover just trying to describe accurately an awful event that has left me shaken and disappointed. I haven't told my wife yet as she is out at work, I'm not sure weather to tell her or not actually.

I thought about taking photo's of the injuries, but what would I do with them..?

anyways watch your kids if you have them, watch them very closely when out and about, things can happen so quickly it's damn frightening.

[incognito]

your mad for allowing her to walk off with them in the first place. Social experiment could have ended badly.

And if it had been my girl, i would have first bitchslapped myself hard for being so stupid, then bitchslapped the kids that hurt my girl.

[Chiral]

Social experiment perhaps, but I thought it prudent to at least exert a level of tolerance rather than run away like all the others. I refuse to live in fear of anyone regardless of subculture or race. If people don't show their resilience and strength against social bullying then we are on a slippery slope to complete social fear. It's bad enough I have been keeping my girl at home for the better part of her first couple years because I'm over protective and believe in taking every extreme measure to ensure her well being. This is just so typical of life though, taking me through this so as to gain some more awareness and provide me with more to consider in regards to the health and safety of my child.

I'm lucky that I'm really vigilant and overly aware of my surroundings when out and about, I'd hate to think what might have unfolded if I weren't so vigilant. Funny stuff happening a lot lately as I tend to not go out unless absolutely necessary, and every time I do venture out I seem cross paths or see people in all their viscous and ugly glory, it's getting to the point where every time I have to walk pass a group of youths on the street I ready myself for the worst, once upon a time I was a reckless young man causing chaos and acting out of sorts, though I don't ever recall intentionally ever hurting or abusing total strangers or stealing shit regularly though like I'm seeing a lot lately.

I told my wife and she understands, as where she works she has come across a lot of trouble regarding a bunch of young people who regularly come in and steal and eat food in the store. When they are apprehended by the store manager for stealing etc they usually go ballistic and start swearing and beating down the exit door or threatening the staff with violence.

[incognito]

sorry to be gruff Chiral. I just could not imagine letting your child run off with some strange kids to an abandoned house. Especially when the majority are older than her, or did i get this wrong??

Cant say i would do this, but i guess im just passing my values onto you again.

converted him to catholic and put him into a catholic school

I didnt think you actually had to be catholic to attend a catholic school???

I was an alter boy in a catholic school and i am anglican!!! My sisters kids attend the same school and are anglican as well. However dont be misled that catholic schools are not 'violent'.

My highschool, a catholic school, was one of the worst in the region.

I guess kids are always going to get into strife growing up.

Have you considered a martial art for your kids? boxing lessons??

as crazy as it sounds i dont think it hurts to know how to defend yourself.

I will be putting my daughter into mixed martial arts lessons next year.(and will continue to as long as shes enjoying it)

I wanna be at home in the loungechair at night, when she grows up and is going out, thinking, 'hope shes okay out there tonight, well at least i know she can kick some fuken ass if need be.'

[incognito]

It's bad enough I have been keeping my girl at home for the better part of her first couple years because I'm over protective and believe in taking every extreme measure to ensure her well being. This is just so typical of life though, taking me through this so as to gain some more awareness and provide me with more to consider in regards to the health and safety of my child.

theres nothing wrong with going to childcare/daycare/preschool a few days a week.

Enhances social skills and self esteem, and whats the word....Independance!! thats the one.

I reckon they hit the ground running once they start Kindy.

[Chiral]

Martial arts is definitely on the cards actually, I put my son through 5 years of Taekwondo to give him some form of protection and I'll be taking my girl to the same classes now and that's for sure. I didn't let my girl wander off into an abandoned house it was simply a house slippery dip that was on the actual playground, it's just that kids love to go inside the little house part and pretend and play etc, this is where they led her so I couldn't quite see what was going on. It happened so quickly though I swear within 20 secs they had her in there and were hurting her, one of them seemed to watch me as a kind of lookout. It was very premeditated and cruel, and that is what is shocking and disturbing.

I think with girls, a father has a much more emotional attachment to their safety, where as boys you kind of try to get them tough and rough quick so they can protect themselves, when you see your daughter getting beaten it has a much more emotional feeling as girls usually don't have the skills to defend themselves accordingly, well not at the age of 2yrs anyways.

[reshroomED]

The truly shocking part of this is that the mothers saw no problem. Any long-term effects of the incident would seem minimal to Chiral's child (although I'm not down-playing the severity - would have spat the dummy big-time myself), yet imagine what sort of people those kids will turn into. It's a sad state of affairs, and you can't really do much to limit assholes breeding, unfortunately

And they're the ones responsible.

As Jono said, though, I'd suggest that asserting your individuality *without* your daughter present would be far more prudent. Where a child is involved, the other parents bailing out mixed with the actions of the new crew would have been enough of a hint for me.

Personally, I like to think that I'm very open to other people living their lives as/how they see fit. What I have ABSOLUTELY NO TOLERANCE for is cruelty to ladies, children, or animals, and tend to get myself into the shit every time I witness such. But with a child in my care I'll ignore the issue if not excessive (where I would intervene if alone), or take the kid to be looked after and go back on my own.

Bottom line, your daughter's safety is PARAMOUNT and should be your first thought and concern in any matter.

ed

[incognito]

I didn't let my girl wander off into an abandoned house it was simply a house slippery dip that was on the actual playground, it's just that kids love to go inside the little house part and pretend and play etc, this is where they led her so I couldn't quite see what was going on. It happened so quickly though I swear within 20 secs they had her in there and were hurting her, one of them seemed to watch me as a kind of lookout. It was very premeditated and cruel, and that is what is shocking and disturbing.

im hearin you now. cunts.

I guess though that just as many white,black, pink green people with their kids would do exactly the same thing if not worse.

Being a c**t isnt race specific.

remember that 'vogler' kid in england? stoned some 4 yr old boy on the traintracks that he led from his mother with his mate in the shopping centre in england??? humans can do shitty shitty things.

Your a much more controlled man than me Chiral, i wouldve headbutted the lookout through the playhouse wall.

Edited October 31, 2009 by incognito

[Chiral]

The James Bolger case in the UK is the one that always comes to my mind when hearing and seeing incidents with young children. in that case 2 boys aged 11 & 9 I think, led little James away from his mum and out of the mall, took him down to the train lines, stoned him to death, then left his little body on the tracks....he was 3...his mum turned her back to look at something in a shop window for a matter of seconds. I was living in the UK at the time and I've never felt the anger and emotion from others so much as with that case, practically the whole nation was ready to tear those 2 boys to shreds. I have to admit that yesterday I had visions and feelings of wanting to smash the little boys head in after what I saw him do to my girl. You don't want to end up on the 6'oclock news for carrying out such heinous acts, so best to just be vigilant, prepared and think wisely....now where is that phone number for the Taekwondo club..?

[mescalito]

I'm shocked but not surprised unfortunately,If I see anything undue or am being abused I grab my phone and record video/audio off the bat.

Saved my arse recently and I've got the last Landlord in the hands of the Human Rights Commission...

Old bitch is regretting it now.

Sorry your little one and yourself went through this ordeal,but when kids act like their parents,or should I say vice versa it's a sad sad world indeed,and it's prevalent.

I would have called the cops personally, right there and then...after securing my Daughter in the car.

They ASKED you to call the cops,no way they can get out of that

TKD is a great mixed martial art,got my black belt when I was 17 and it was in put in the local rag.

People treated me differently for some reason

[holymountain]

thats a crazy story dude. it's a shame because you were trying to be tolerant and keep a level head when all the other parents were freaking out. leaves you wondering...is it better to just freak out and treat everyone suspect person as a possible threat and get away?

its like when you get on a train and there is a crazy guy wandering around shouting all sorts of things. most people just get up and leave. once i stayed and asked the guy what his name was and he chilled out completley and had a conversation (though it was probably the weirdest conversation i've had).

another time i tried the same approach and copped abuse and spitting and all sorts of craziness...

it's like you try to show compassion and try not to be prejudiced and try to not let stereotypes affect how you view other people. sometimes you break through and connect and other times you think 'now i know why thats a stereotype'.

either way you just got to keep on loving. you'll get burned every now and again but if you close off and shut down like so many others have then it'll just perpetuate things.

don't let it bring you down.

peace.

[Evil Genius]

Sorry to hear that, chiral. Stuff like this happens very often when parents are not able to raise their kids correctly! In 99 % of the cases, its the fault of the parents! The same here. Just look at how fucked up those two women reacted! Kids do what they are taught to do. I dont know very much about the prejudices that exist against Aboriginals but i am aware of the fact that there definately are plenty. Well, its sad that you tried to give those people the benefit of the doubt and that they disapointed you. But dont let that bad experience spoil that good attitude. The trick is not be affected of prejudices even though they sometimes might apply. Im very sure that there is at least the same amount of people where prejudices dont apply. Maybe even more. Im pretty sure that you are well aware of that though. And dont let one asshole family spoil your Attitude. Because its would be worse if you´d treat a good aboriginal person bad only because of bad experiences in the past. Stuff like this is it what enlarges the distcance between people of diffrent origins. bye Eg

[SunChaser]

G'day Evil Genius

Know you dont come from australia so I thought I'd tell you a little about how we treat aboriginals, it's our dirty little secret. The prejudice that the aboriginals have to put up with is a complete disgrace, it's (for the most part) totally socially acceptable to call them abo's, which to them, is the same as calling a black american a nigger. Some of my bothers friends talk about how even (non-aboriginals) black people commonly call them by that name and make jokes about how there all petrol sniffers, then wonder why they get so mad about it!

Then there's the NT aboriginal communities that are in major need of assistance from 200 years of us treating them worse than animals. substance abuse is out of control and there living conditions are third world, sometimes up to 10 people are forced to live in a two bedroom house. Instead of going in there and fixing up there infrastructure and working out a way to get fresh food in there that they can afford, we just sent the army in and banned them from reading porn and drinking alcohol, they called it a intervention and convinced us that it had to be done because they were all up there raping there kids, but since the intervention basically no extra people have been charged for child sex charges than would have happend if we didn't send the army in in the first place. Nothing has changed for the better in these communities but us aussies are still sitting around defending the government for what it did

Australia is a extremely racist country when it comes to aboriginals!

Edited November 1, 2009 by jabez

[Evil Genius]

Hi Jabez, thanks for clearing that a little bit up for me! I wasnt aware about how explosive the relationship between those two cultures really is and im very sorry to hear that. I expected the racism to be rather subliminal. I suspected it to be similar like the way it is in germany. We also have a lot of racism here but people dont admit it openly. Not anymore. They rather talk behind the back of the people and make fun of them. It´s some kind of underground racism. Much like the KKK but without the organised behaviour. People from other countries are treated worse than germans and dont get the jobs they´d deserve and other unfair stuff like this. Sad story. It makes me feel that racism is a widespread human behaviour. I wonder why so many people worldwide have that in common and why on the other hand so many others dont. Eductation maybe? What is it exactly that makes people Racist? bye Eg

Edited November 1, 2009 by Evil Genius

[Chiral]

Jabez I sometimes find your posts a little to general and misinformed, others you seem to show a deal of understanding on the matter. Your comments recently about Aboriginal affairs sound like they came from a massive index of over generalisation. Aboriginal affairs are a very complex and intricate issue that is fraught with emotion and history. You failed to point out even very basic facts to EG about the types of income and free schooling/housing and job opportunities offered continuously to assist with many of the communities living in the large towns and cities. There are some amazing people in their communities who try to stand up and work with their peers and local families to insure a better future, these people have an extremely difficult time encouraging and providing information, support, health, education and job prospects to their own people. In my own observations and experience, dating an Aboriginal girl and living alongside city and town based Aboriginal communities or missions, many simply don't want to integrate into a western or modern way of life, so us outsiders criticize and degrade their ways. Who are we to say such things about a culture we see as "needing help" when realistically that's not what they want.

I'd like to think that rather than saying that most Australians are racist towards Aboriginals, we could perhaps leave those negative stereo types at the door, perhaps say that a minority of Australians are willing to support and work together with aboriginals and some day with a lot of understanding and hard work this will become the majority.

Yesterday I ventured back to the park and witnessed the same 2 women plus 5 other younger ones meet violently with 3 mixed race girls about 50 yards from the playground. A 20 minute violent altercation ensued between the 2 groups and many heated words were exchanged. One could view this negatively as many in the park did, I for some reason wondered what the fight was about, was it some sort Aboriginal court or initiation..? I don't know but it was rather well planned and executed, I suspect the girl who was defeated has learned her lesson and paid the penalty for what ever indiscretion she must have committed.

We can avoid, complain, attack, vilify, condemn Aboriginals all we want if that's your game, it's not going to help, not one bit in the slightest.

Yes am disappointed and angry at the women and their childrens attitudes the other day.. because I chose to accept, understand, make an effort to treat everyone around me as an equal. In hindsight I think I should have even gone and sat with the women and chatted with them instead of sitting with my back to them and possibly allowing them to think I am just another racist.

[mac]

I have gotta give ya credit Chiral, if it happened to me i would have gone ballistic there & then.

It would have ended up with me on assault charges or gone home & grabbed my dog taken it back to put the wind up them no matter who they were

Oh & that cask of wine would have been kicked, stomped & spread out from asshole to breakfast time

jabez do you think a 2yo provoked them ? used raciest remarks , its all good to defend people who have not done anything wrong but in my eyes a cunt is a cunt no matter if they are black white Asian or Lebanese

The fact that they were aboriginal dose not make a bit of difference, i would like to see how you react if the same was done to your kid or family member, political correctness & bleeding hearts don't help the situation one bit

There are 2 sides to every story

Some people are just assholes & should be treated on the basis of how they treat others without calling the race card

come down to the far west ill show you 2 different community's (one good one bad) & you can make a decision based on what you see with your own eyes.

Edited November 2, 2009 by mac

[incognito]

The prejudice that the aboriginals have to put up with is a complete disgrace, it's (for the most part) totally socially acceptable to call them abo's, which to them, is the same as calling a black american a nigger. Some of my bothers friends talk about how even (non-aboriginals) black people commonly call them by that name and make jokes about how there all petrol sniffers, then wonder why they get so mad about it!

Being aboriginal has nothing to do with Chirals story.

You have good and bad no matter what race or colour you are.

The exact same thing could happen in a park anywhere, but replace the aboriginal parents with caucasians, asians, islanders, freakin eskimos!

[lophty_tricho]

Moral of the story, always carry a bottle of brug-scotch.... make out like it dropped out your bag by mistake... sit back and enjoy the show.

Aboriginals have had a rough trot, understatement. and Australia is a country with a undeniably racist past- from terra nullius to the stolen generation- and now the intervention. it has been government policy to undermine their culture for the most part of our history, and even to wipe them out like what happened down south. Aboriginals make up 2.6% of our population and more than 25% of our prison population. Average life expectancy 58-62 the rest of us, 78-85. somethings not right with this picture.

I respect that you did not sink to their level... after all they're most likely living a hell well beyond what anyone could dish up to them- still the brug scotch would come close, he he

Edited November 10, 2009 by lophty_tricho

[lofty86]

yeah have to agree its not a black thing its just how the children of alchoholic derolicks behave, having said that the aborigininal community does have prevolent alchohol problem and there is a time to discriminate.

i wouldnt freak out over aboriginals in a park but however i would discriminate against a family (of any racial origin) that brought a cask of wine to a public park in the daytime were children play.

i have seen first hand the detremental effects of alchoholism and discriminate on those grounds (and quite justly IMO)

i have mates who are junkies i dont leave my wallet laying around when there about but dont think twice about it when mates who work and have families are around

you have to discriminate it how we survive.

[ballzac]

i would discriminate against a family (of any racial origin) that brought a cask of wine to a public park in the daytime were children play.

What about an expensive bottle of cognac and lead crystal glassware?

[lofty86]

What about an expensive bottle of cognac and lead crystal glassware?

of course! alchahole has no place in a childrens playground regardless of your social ecenomic background even the working class bloke with a 6pack having a family bbq at a public park would piss me off

alchohole lowers inhibitions, makes some people mouthy, and others not give a shit. you should be able to chose what sort of environment you take your children out into you can take your child to a pub or a backyard pissup if you want, some people do. but places like a public park you shouldnt have to take that crap i know in queensland its illegal to have open alchole in public places and the police enforce it.

some laws are stupid, like drug laws etc but courtesy laws like not being drunk and disorderly in a park, or not drinking or taking drugs while driving or operating heavy machinery are nescesery.

next time your child is violently assulted record the incedent with your phone and call the cops! its not a dog act if your attackt unprovoked especially since you went out of your way to give them the benifit of the doubt.