A woman has sparked a fierce debate online after revealing she 'scolded' a stranger's child in a restaurant.
The 23-year-old woman was out enjoying a meal with her family in a restaurant when a child aged around nine started yelling, doing cartwheels and running up and down the aisles.
The woman became increasingly annoyed after noticing the child's mother sat and ignored his behaviour, but finally decided to intervene when the boy approached her table and took something.
Posting on Reddit's Am I The A**hole forum she said: "It was annoying but we just ignored him and carried on with our meal. His mother was sat at their table talking to the adults she was with and completing ignoring her son apart from occasionally telling him to come and finish his food.
"We were sat in a booth and I had my stuff on the bench next to me, including a hat. One of the many times he ran past our table, he stopped, picked up my hat and put it on."
Just as the boy went to run off with the hat, the woman sharply told him, "give that back right now," and he obliged, but she says he looked embarrassed.
The woman went on to tell him "it is extremely rude to take other people's things without asking, don't do that again."
The boy looked at his mum who then came over to see what was happening.
The woman continued: "His mum heard part of what I was saying as she came up to us and angrily told me to leave her son alone; I explained that he had taken my things and I was telling him not to.
"She told me I shouldn't stick my nose in and that as he's 'just a kid' and that I should have just let him play with the hat, or asked for it back nicely without scolding him."
The woman then turned to Reddit to question whether she was justified in 'scolding' the child, and she was met with overwhelming support.
One mum said: "I have four kids and I would be absolutely appalled if they acted this way in public."
Another added: "Kid needs to learn some manners somehow and it seems like his mum isn’t going to be the one teaching him how to act properly in public."
"Kids shouldn’t be allowed to run around inside a restaurant for any reason, let alone do cartwheels," a third posted.
"They could knock someone’s food over, hurt themselves or someone who’s just trying to do their job or enjoy a meal out. Mum needs to learn to teach her kids to behave or someone else will."
