Tantrums are quite common amongst young children, no? I mean, it’s almost expected to happen especially when things don’t go their way. They cry and scream in obnoxious volumes but wait a couple minutes and fingers-crossed, it’s all over. But calling the police because of it is nothing short of ridiculous. But guess what? It happened.
Late last week, a woman called the cops on a little boy after hearing his screaming outburst on a hiking trail in Santa Clarita, California. The mother of that little boy happened to be Charlize Theron.
According to TMZ, Theron and boyfriend Sean Penn were out on a sunrise picnic with Theron’s adopted son, Jackson. A female hiker came along and stopped when she heard the two-year-old screaming in a tantrum. The woman then approached Jackson, whipped out her camera and began filming.
TMZ reports that Theron told the woman not to go near her son. The woman left, but called police claiming she was concerned for the child’s safety and welfare. Once police arrived to the scene, they quickly determined that Jackson was perfectly fine and that he was only experiencing a tantrum because he was put on a momentary timeout. Police found no wrongdoing and took no action against Theron or Penn.
So much for that morning family picnic…
Now I can’t imagine the kind of tantrum Jackson may have been having for this woman to call the cops. Or why she pulled out her camera to start filming it all. Something tells me somebody wanted to start a scene, leak the story and get their 15 minutes of fame. That’s my guess. But hey, I’m willing to entertain the idea that the woman did not recognize Theron or Penn and instead saw a couple with a child throwing a fit. Now before making any wrongful assumptions, as this woman may have theoretically made, as a bystander you always need to carefully assess the situation before taking any action. And remember, kids DO and WILL have tantrums, it’s not a distress call. Let’s no jump the gun and call the police every time we see a child having one.
Let’s be real, though. That hiker was definitely working for somebody, if not herself.
Julie says
busybodies are the worst. i was having to kidnap my own kid one day, all you moms know what i mean…i had my baby strapped to me and my eldest’s friend in the wagon and my eldest pitched a fit and did NOT want to sit in the wagon. she’s screaming, i’m yelling at her to get in the wagon and practically throwing her in there and some lady comes up to me on the phone, “…just a minute…them yer kids?…” i just look at her, “…yup, i think they are…” and she goes off.
i waited for the police car to pull up at any point but i’m assuming the 911 operator told her that no one in their right mind would kidnap a screaming child on a busy street corner.
gochicky says
Ugh. Of course it could be true she was looking for a moment of glory in the media.. but more likely she was just another one of the countless busy-bodies who feel free to judge everyone else’s parenting style. When I see a kid having a melt down, I try to say something nice to the Mom.. or at least give her a sympathetic smile. I know that melt downs are inevitable For every tired, cranky kid.. there’s an even more tired Mom who is just trying to make it through the day.