Shop assistant smacks 3 y/o!

[hulagirl]

I have a toddler (granted very little but still running around) and have looked after at least 15 while working as a nanny. I don't believe shops, restaurants etc are acceptable places for a toddler to be running around. That's what buggies, reins etc are for. I am not saying I am perfect in any way shape or form but that's my feelings. I am also not saying the shop assistant was in anyway right as it was not her place to touch the child but it does annoy me to see children run around in places that are not safe.
Just my opinion.
X

 

[GoldenStars]

I don't agree with smacking the child, BUT it is very frustrating watching children make a mess of your shop. I had a kid throw a can of red bull on the floor the other day, laugh, and his Mum goes 'just leave it' and pulled him on to carry on shopping. I heard it from the next aisle and went to see what happened, but she made no effort to tell anyone her son had spilt a can of drink (accidentally or not), so there was a massive wet patch in the middle of the floor which is a danger to customers and staff.

Kids regularly break glass jars because they wander off and Mum or Dad isn't watching them/has lost sight of them. They will take items from the bakery, half eat them and drop them around the shop therefore not paying for them either. Other times they faff around with the chiller doors and have broken them on occasion. I will and do ask children to let go of the doors or if they could please not run around the shop etc, but the looks I get from some parents if I dare utter a word

I don't think smacking is right, but I wouldn't have left the store immediately, I would kick up a fuss there and then. Accidents do happen in shops but it is frustrating working in retail. We had a 3 YO run into the glass door at my work and the parent had a right go. Its not our fault their child ran into a door which has a big 4 foot sticker on it 6 inches up from the ground. It was an accident.

Swings and roundabouts with perceptions, I'm not sure how clear cut this story is. I still don't think smacking is acceptable, I don't think touching anyone else's child in that situation is acceptable unless its to remove them from danger. But it is very frustrating working in retail if you have a few children with parents who aren't good at keeping their eye on them, or don't care.

 

[chulie]

I think the issue we all have to look at is strangers stepping in and parenting your child. If the shop owner did not like what was going on she should have gone over to the mother and made it clear they will be asked to leave if the child does not stop. In NO circumstances is it ok for someone else to step in if they think your doing a poor job.

Imagine feeding your child in a mall and someone coming up and saying "no I'm sorry I don't think kids should eat that" and proceeds to hand your kid something you would never feed your kid

Imagine taking your kid for her needle and some parent saying "oh no they need this shot" and proceeding to just give your kid a needle you didn't want them to have.

Right or wrong. Good kid or bad...the point is, it is no ones job but yours to parent your child and THAT's the issue that hardest for me to deal with. No one is a perfect parent. We're gonna screw our kids up along the way and having some shop lady try to act like she can do it better is what would have upset me more than anything!!!

Ok and I do have to say "the keyboard warrior" comment might be the best thing I've ever heard!!! Lmao. I may use that in the future when one of my BFF's is being a drama queen. Hahahahaa. Love it!

 

[RoxieHart]

I would have gone mad!!!

 

[Noelle610]

Of course I don't think kids should run all over public places. But bad behavior does not mean smacking that kid is even a tad bit acceptable.

 

[shmoo75]

I have just left a comment on the website under Shmoo01. bet I get a few hate full stupid comments back but, that is ok as I am more than prepared to stick up for all of us who would go ape at the shop assistant who dared to smack any of our children.

 

[lhancock90]

I read this on the daily mail website this morning (don't judge me, I go there for my showbiz fix...) and the thing that shocked me most was the comments on the story - best rated ones saying how the shop assistant was right and people should control their kids and that smacking never did them any harm. I was raging after reading it all. Probably shouldn't have been that shocked given the publication I guess?

God help anyone who does that to my lo. Maybe the next time the shop assistant accidentally knocks a kitkat off the shelf someone will just smack them on the arse and she'll think its ok??

This, 442 people upvoted comments supporting the assistants actions.
What is wrong with people.
There would have been an assistant shaped hole in the floor if it had been one of mine.

 

[highhopes19]

I have a toddler (granted very little but still running around) and have looked after at least 15 while working as a nanny. I don't believe shops, restaurants etc are acceptable places for a toddler to be running around. That's what buggies, reins etc are for. I am not saying I am perfect in any way shape or form but that's my feelings. I am also not saying the shop assistant was in anyway right as it was not her place to touch the child but it does annoy me to see children run around in places that are not safe.
Just my opinion.
X

Isabelle knocked a glass bottle off the bottom shelf in boots the other day.... She wasn't running round, she was sitting in her buggy!

 

[Tattoo]

I don't agree with smacking the child, BUT it is very frustrating watching children make a mess of your shop. I had a kid throw a can of red bull on the floor the other day, laugh, and his Mum goes 'just leave it' and pulled him on to carry on shopping. I heard it from the next aisle and went to see what happened, but she made no effort to tell anyone her son had spilt a can of drink (accidentally or not), so there was a massive wet patch in the middle of the floor which is a danger to customers and staff.

Kids regularly break glass jars because they wander off and Mum or Dad isn't watching them/has lost sight of them. They will take items from the bakery, half eat them and drop them around the shop therefore not paying for them either. Other times they faff around with the chiller doors and have broken them on occasion. I will and do ask children to let go of the doors or if they could please not run around the shop etc, but the looks I get from some parents if I dare utter a word

I don't think smacking is right, but I wouldn't have left the store immediately, I would kick up a fuss there and then. Accidents do happen in shops but it is frustrating working in retail. We had a 3 YO run into the glass door at my work and the parent had a right go. Its not our fault their child ran into a door which has a big 4 foot sticker on it 6 inches up from the ground. It was an accident.

Swings and roundabouts with perceptions, I'm not sure how clear cut this story is. I still don't think smacking is acceptable, I don't think touching anyone else's child in that situation is acceptable unless its to remove them from danger. But it is very frustrating working in retail if you have a few children with parents who aren't good at keeping their eye on them, or don't care.

I think you've made very good points! Badly behaved kids (and "badly behaved" is subjective anyway) are annoying, whether you are a sales assistant, a parent, or simply a passer-by. But badly behaved children in public places are a fact of life, it's something we have to deal with and it's never ok to strike a child (in my opinion that applies to your own child, as well as someone else's), or an adult.
The fact is that sales assistant should not have struck that girl.

The Boots' Facebook page is awash with people calling for a public acknowledgement and response from the company regarding this, but the same tired message about customer service is being rolled out in reply to every single comment.

 

[bumpy_j]

Yeah there's a new DM counter article from Shona Shibary - God she gets on my tits

 

[meli1981]

i think a smack on the butt is ok, but not by anyone else but the mother. if anyone else smacked my kids, whether it be a stranger or a relative, i woyld snap!

 

[The Alchemist]

Well, I wasn't there to witness the behavior of the child. No matter. Even if the child was a devil child or just a curious little one being a normal curious toddler, it wasn't in her (the old lady clerk) place to discipline - it's NO one's place BUT the parent. That lil old lady was WRONG by that.

What would have been appropriate as a professional is to bring it up to the mother's attention what the child did - NOT step in and take the role of substitute parent.

 

[dgirllamius]

I found the comments that people made on that website unreal. I can't believe people are actually supporting this woman's actions.

I just don't understand how this woman is getting away with it and still has her job! Why is it still legal to hit kids as long as it doesn't leave a mark? How is that even right? You'd be arrested if you hit an adult so why do children seem to be to these people lesser beings?

If she would have done that here then she would have be sacked on the spot and arrested for hitting a child. Hitting a child here regardless of whether it leaves a mark or not is illegal. Obviously people probably do it here behind closed doors but that would have been it for that woman here.

 

[NoodleSnack]

The managers reaction makes me feel sick. I'd expect her to be instantly sacked!

I think it's wrong of the shop assistance but she's in her 50's and used to a different convention. It's easy to talk about sacking someone, but as a manager, I know it's not that easy. Sometimes the worker really needs the job and we just try to placate the customers - although he could have done it better, I would acknowledge the seriousness, apologise and offer her a discount or something, not make light of it.

But I can't imagine that sales clerks smacking kids was condoned in her time either. Brat or not, old or not, she had NO right laying a hand on that child. I work in retail management too and in my LOB that kind of offense would be an instant termination. You don't put your company at risk like that.

I can easily imagine it being done in her time. To me, the image of a 50 year old lady smacking a toddler lightly on the bottom for misbehaving isn't that serious an offense - it doesn't hurt the toddler physically. I would be angry if it was my child because me and my husband has a no corporal punishment philosophy, but if this was an old family friend, I wouldn't even say anything to her directly, and if it was a stranger like in this case, I would tell her off but I wouldn't think about hitting her or getting her sacked.

If the manager managed to placate the mother after she came back, there would be no risk to the company, but the manager handled the situation poorly.

Are you serious? If a shop assistant smacked an adult for messing up a display they'd be sacked. No questions. Why would it be different for a child? If I tapped a child on the bum in my job I'd be struck off!

Children and adults are different, so the analogy doesn't work. If an adult comes into a shop and start running around knocking things off, they would be asked to leave, have the security booted them out, or be arrested. I doubt people would think twice about the security guard putting his hands on that adult to stop that adult.

If it's just a casual job to you, sure it's no big deal to fire you, but how do you know it's not a livelihood for this lady? To me, her offense is not serious enough to deprive her of her livelihood, that's just mean, when she wasn't doing it out of bad intention.

 

[EmzLouise]

The managers reaction makes me feel sick. I'd expect her to be instantly sacked!

I think it's wrong of the shop assistance but she's in her 50's and used to a different convention. It's easy to talk about sacking someone, but as a manager, I know it's not that easy. Sometimes the worker really needs the job and we just try to placate the customers - although he could have done it better, I would acknowledge the seriousness, apologise and offer her a discount or something, not make light of it.

But I can't imagine that sales clerks smacking kids was condoned in her time either. Brat or not, old or not, she had NO right laying a hand on that child. I work in retail management too and in my LOB that kind of offense would be an instant termination. You don't put your company at risk like that.

I can easily imagine it being done in her time. To me, the image of a 50 year old lady smacking a toddler lightly on the bottom for misbehaving isn't that serious an offense - it doesn't hurt the toddler physically. I would be angry if it was my child because me and my husband has a no corporal punishment philosophy, but if this was an old family friend, I wouldn't even say anything to her directly, and if it was a stranger like in this case, I would tell her off but I wouldn't think about hitting her or getting her sacked.

If the manager managed to placate the mother after she came back, there would be no risk to the company, but the manager handled the situation poorly.

Are you serious? If a shop assistant smacked an adult for messing up a display they'd be sacked. No questions. Why would it be different for a child? If I tapped a child on the bum in my job I'd be struck off!

Children and adults are different, so the analogy doesn't work. If an adult comes into a shop and start running around knocking things off, they would be asked to leave, have the security booted them out, or be arrested. I doubt people would think twice about the security guard putting his hands on that adult to stop that adult.

If it's just a casual job to you, sure it's no big deal to fire you, but how do you know it's not a livelihood for this lady? To me, her offense is not serious enough to deprive her of her livelihood, that's just mean, when she wasn't doing it out of bad intention.

Sorry, don't agree. She should of at the very least be suspended and her job reviewed. Don't wanna lose your livelihood? Don't hit other peoples kids.

 

[lhancock90]

The managers reaction makes me feel sick. I'd expect her to be instantly sacked!

I think it's wrong of the shop assistance but she's in her 50's and used to a different convention. It's easy to talk about sacking someone, but as a manager, I know it's not that easy. Sometimes the worker really needs the job and we just try to placate the customers - although he could have done it better, I would acknowledge the seriousness, apologise and offer her a discount or something, not make light of it.

But I can't imagine that sales clerks smacking kids was condoned in her time either. Brat or not, old or not, she had NO right laying a hand on that child. I work in retail management too and in my LOB that kind of offense would be an instant termination. You don't put your company at risk like that.

I can easily imagine it being done in her time. To me, the image of a 50 year old lady smacking a toddler lightly on the bottom for misbehaving isn't that serious an offense - it doesn't hurt the toddler physically. I would be angry if it was my child because me and my husband has a no corporal punishment philosophy, but if this was an old family friend, I wouldn't even say anything to her directly, and if it was a stranger like in this case, I would tell her off but I wouldn't think about hitting her or getting her sacked.

If the manager managed to placate the mother after she came back, there would be no risk to the company, but the manager handled the situation poorly.

Are you serious? If a shop assistant smacked an adult for messing up a display they'd be sacked. No questions. Why would it be different for a child? If I tapped a child on the bum in my job I'd be struck off!

Children and adults are different, so the analogy doesn't work. If an adult comes into a shop and start running around knocking things off, they would be asked to leave, have the security booted them out, or be arrested. I doubt people would think twice about the security guard putting his hands on that adult to stop that adult.

If it's just a casual job to you, sure it's no big deal to fire you, but how do you know it's not a livelihood for this lady? To me, her offense is not serious enough to deprive her of her livelihood, that's just mean, when she wasn't doing it out of bad intention.

If she had of done it to an adult, it would have been assault and she would have. Why is it any different because its a child?

 

[NoodleSnack]

The managers reaction makes me feel sick. I'd expect her to be instantly sacked!

I think it's wrong of the shop assistance but she's in her 50's and used to a different convention. It's easy to talk about sacking someone, but as a manager, I know it's not that easy. Sometimes the worker really needs the job and we just try to placate the customers - although he could have done it better, I would acknowledge the seriousness, apologise and offer her a discount or something, not make light of it.

But I can't imagine that sales clerks smacking kids was condoned in her time either. Brat or not, old or not, she had NO right laying a hand on that child. I work in retail management too and in my LOB that kind of offense would be an instant termination. You don't put your company at risk like that.

I can easily imagine it being done in her time. To me, the image of a 50 year old lady smacking a toddler lightly on the bottom for misbehaving isn't that serious an offense - it doesn't hurt the toddler physically. I would be angry if it was my child because me and my husband has a no corporal punishment philosophy, but if this was an old family friend, I wouldn't even say anything to her directly, and if it was a stranger like in this case, I would tell her off but I wouldn't think about hitting her or getting her sacked.

If the manager managed to placate the mother after she came back, there would be no risk to the company, but the manager handled the situation poorly.

Are you serious? If a shop assistant smacked an adult for messing up a display they'd be sacked. No questions. Why would it be different for a child? If I tapped a child on the bum in my job I'd be struck off!

Children and adults are different, so the analogy doesn't work. If an adult comes into a shop and start running around knocking things off, they would be asked to leave, have the security booted them out, or be arrested. I doubt people would think twice about the security guard putting his hands on that adult to stop that adult.

If it's just a casual job to you, sure it's no big deal to fire you, but how do you know it's not a livelihood for this lady? To me, her offense is not serious enough to deprive her of her livelihood, that's just mean, when she wasn't doing it out of bad intention.

Sorry, don't agree. She should of at the very least be suspended and her job reviewed. Don't wanna lose your livelihood? Don't hit other peoples kids.

If she knew that before she did it, sure, but she's 50+, growing up and probably raising children in an era when smacking a child on the bottom for misbehaving wasn't that big of a deal. I grew up like that, if we were getting in the way during a get together, any adult can grab us to stop us or tell us off, not just our parents, and it wouldn't be a big deal.

 

[Noelle610]

The managers reaction makes me feel sick. I'd expect her to be instantly sacked!

I think it's wrong of the shop assistance but she's in her 50's and used to a different convention. It's easy to talk about sacking someone, but as a manager, I know it's not that easy. Sometimes the worker really needs the job and we just try to placate the customers - although he could have done it better, I would acknowledge the seriousness, apologise and offer her a discount or something, not make light of it.

But I can't imagine that sales clerks smacking kids was condoned in her time either. Brat or not, old or not, she had NO right laying a hand on that child. I work in retail management too and in my LOB that kind of offense would be an instant termination. You don't put your company at risk like that.

I can easily imagine it being done in her time. To me, the image of a 50 year old lady smacking a toddler lightly on the bottom for misbehaving isn't that serious an offense - it doesn't hurt the toddler physically. I would be angry if it was my child because me and my husband has a no corporal punishment philosophy, but if this was an old family friend, I wouldn't even say anything to her directly, and if it was a stranger like in this case, I would tell her off but I wouldn't think about hitting her or getting her sacked.

If the manager managed to placate the mother after she came back, there would be no risk to the company, but the manager handled the situation poorly.

Are you serious? If a shop assistant smacked an adult for messing up a display they'd be sacked. No questions. Why would it be different for a child? If I tapped a child on the bum in my job I'd be struck off!

Children and adults are different, so the analogy doesn't work. If an adult comes into a shop and start running around knocking things off, they would be asked to leave, have the security booted them out, or be arrested. I doubt people would think twice about the security guard putting his hands on that adult to stop that adult.

If it's just a casual job to you, sure it's no big deal to fire you, but how do you know it's not a livelihood for this lady? To me, her offense is not serious enough to deprive her of her livelihood, that's just mean, when she wasn't doing it out of bad intention.

Sorry, don't agree. She should of at the very least be suspended and her job reviewed. Don't wanna lose your livelihood? Don't hit other peoples kids.

If she knew that before she did it, sure, but she's 50+, growing up and probably raising children in an era when smacking a child on the bottom for misbehaving wasn't that big of a deal. I grew up like that, if we were getting in the way during a get together, any adult can grab us to stop us or tell us off, not just our parents, and it wouldn't be a big deal.

I get where you're coming from and I do think it's likely the sales clerk meant no harm. But, there are a lot of things that were common practices when she grew up that are no longer acceptable now. She doesn't get a free pass because she's elderly.

 

[jenniferttc1]

I would have best the shit out of that woman. How dare her step in and try to physically disapline someone's child. That's NO strangers place. Nicely tell me they are mis behaving if parents won't, but to hit?!

 

[WelshOneEmma]

I found the comments that people made on that website unreal. I can't believe people are actually supporting this woman's actions.

I just don't understand how this woman is getting away with it and still has her job! Why is it still legal to hit kids as long as it doesn't leave a mark? How is that even right? You'd be arrested if you hit an adult so why do children seem to be to these people lesser beings?

If she would have done that here then she would have be sacked on the spot and arrested for hitting a child. Hitting a child here regardless of whether it leaves a mark or not is illegal. Obviously people probably do it here behind closed doors but that would have been it for that woman here.

I am obviously one of those evil parents who thinks part of the problems we have with kids these days is because parents can't parent how they see fit and smack on occasion. I have no intention of regularly smacking my child, but if she wont listen then once in a while it will happen.

parents rights are being taken away. i had the odd smack when I was younger and am fine for it, i learnt a healthy respect. none of this "you cant hit me I'll get you arrested" rubbish that you get now from kids.

yes the lady shouldn't have smacked someone else's child but maybe, just maybe, the mum needs to accept she should have been watching her child and not let her play with the display. faults on both sides. and no i don't think the lady should lose her job.