Woman Calls The Cops On Charlize Theron’s Screaming Kid, Proving Once Again That No One Understands What 911 Is For
In a classic case of a nosy jerk not minding their own business, the police were called to investigate Charlize Theron and Sean Penn after noticing Theron’s son screaming on the trail at Vasquez Rocks in Santa Clarita, CA. Before I get into the details, can I just say what absolute crap this is? Is it REALLY that shocking for someone to hear a screaming kid in public? As parents, it truly seems we are damned if we do and damned if we don’t. If we give in to the tantrum, we are shitty parents. If we let them have their fit, we are apparently abusive. Jesus.
According to news.com.au via TMZ, a passing hiker felt the need to alert authorities as she was “concerned for the child’s welfare”:
She heard Jackson screaming and filmed the four-year-old, promoting Theron to ask the women to leave them alone.
But the website claims that when police arrived they realised Jackson had actually been in the middle of a disciplinary time-out and was merely throwing a tantrum.
A little kid? Throwing a tantrum!?! I am STUNNED. Maybe this woman has been living under a rock for the last few decades but, newsflash: little kids throw fits. It’s what they do. It might be annoying but it is not abuse or cause for concern. Unless this woman saw Theron or Penn beating on the little boy, she had no right to call the police or to start filming it.
I feel bad for Charlize because she might be a big celebrity, but she’s also a mother probably just doing her best. We’ve all been there. Well, I’m sure there are smug parents among us who claim they have never been there but we’ll just forget about them for now. You are out in public, running an errand or on a fun, family outing. Everything is going fine until your small child decides to be….well, a small child. Kids get upset sometimes about silly things- maybe you said no to buying them a lollipop. Maybe they want to walk instead of ride in the cart and you know it isn’t a good idea. Maybe they just didn’t get enough sleep and that tantrum is going to come out at some point no matter the circumstances. My oldest didn’t have too many fits but boy, did my youngest. I cannot tell you how many times during his toddler years that I abandoned a grocery or Target cart and carried my son out like a 2×4 while he screamed in a manner suggesting I was pouring acid over his face. Had someone called the police over this completely normal aspect of raising a small child, I would have been mortified and furious.
Next time, if you are truly concerned about the well-being of a child “in distress” in public, really listen. Listen to how the parents interact with the child. Watch to see what they do. Do not immediately assume that a screaming child equals a child in peril. It is a big deal to involve police who definitely have better things to do than deal with a family and their tantruming kid. It’s good to be on the lookout for kids in bad situations but I’m sure this busy-body was just looking for 15 minutes of fame considering who this boy’s parent is.
(Image: Helga Esteb/Shutterstock)
