A stranger's child hit me

This afternoon in the supermarket, a stranger's child hit me in the stomach. I cried out in shock and pain.

The child was around 3 or 4 years old as she was sturdy on her feet but not that big. I had been browsing the vegetable aisle of an upmarket city supermarket mid week during the day. It was in a business area that is not usually frequented by mothers with young children.

The mother called her child to her. She did not acknowledge what her child did or reprimand her behaviour or insist on an apology. Perhaps she didn't see it. Or she was embarassed.

I hesitated. Should I confront the mother? Do I cause a scene. Typically, everyone around us ignored it in the usual English way and carried on.

I wondered what is the right response here. Certainly children should not be permitted to behave in this way. The incident bothered me all the way home.

Has our society and parenting standards resulted in little monsters and hooligans? What would have happened if my hot chocolate had been knocked out of my hand and burnt the child? What if my response had been to push or slap her back?

I thought about a television series that I had seen called The Slap. A parent disciplines another person's child at a family bbq. The consequences include a lawsuit, a breakdown of relationships and a questioning of what is good parenting.

I'm home and now feeling a little angry at the child, the mother and myself. So I turned to my friend Google.

It seems aggression in children is not an unusual phenomenon. Typically it occurs in the park or playground with other children being the victim. Another common trait seems to be children hitting their parents. When it has involved an adult, it is clear that the adult is breaking the law if they smack, slap or hit a child back.

Whatever the child's reason for striking a stranger, whether it be attention, behavioural issues or poor parenting, I do think parents have a responsibility here. Anyone who is physically harmed should have some recourse.

After reading numerous different websites, I did sympathise with parents tired of reprimanding their children. Young children are exhausting. I have been around many of them, though none as brazen or violent as this. I don't believe in a nanny state, but I do believe parents need to respect others when they take children out into public spaces. If they do not teach their children what is appropriate and manage aggression, it is not the job of teachers and society to pick up the slack.

One woman jokingly (or not) writes online about how she is grateful to strangers who verbally reprimand her child for her. While it is somewhat humorous, it is also sad that it has come to this.

It makes me wonder about the world we have become and the life we are living. Why are we too tired to do our jobs? Why do we no longer take seriously the trend in both child and adult behaviour - the lack of respect for others, kindness and consideration.

If I polled friends with kids and those without, I expect their responses to be quite different. Some would be more outraged than others. There are some who would consider the child's actions unacceptable. There are others who might be more understanding. For some reason, I think that 30 or 100 years ago, this sort of thing wouldn't happen.

Then I think this is not a big deal. It doesn't matter. This isn't really my problem.