Please weigh in- am I over reacting here?
I am a mom of two (3yo and 6mo) and taught elementary school for a decade before becoming a SAHM.
In the past few weeks I had seen a little boy, about 7 or 8 years old, riding his bike by himself with no adults in sight. Normally I wouldn’t think much of it…except that two of these times I watched him cross a 4 lane, 45mph road in the middle (not at an intersection or crosswalk. Like literally rides off the grass right across the road.) Last week I saw him crossing a major intersection of this same 4-lane road and the 6 lane highway that is about 1.5 miles north of our neighborhood again- totally alone- zero adults in sight. A couple days ago we were at the park and he came on his bike alone, and was playing in the retention pond. Was there for about 40 minutes. I kept an eye on him- he got about waist deep but didn’t go any further. When he came out of the water I asked him where his grown up was and he just shrugged and rode away on his bike. (Not sure about you but if my kid disappeared for 40 minutes I’d notice and would be frantic to say the least.)
Today we saw him once again crossing the busy 4 lane road near our home completely alone. This time he was atleast using the crosswalk- but he didn’t wait for the light, didn’t stop at the corner, didn’t look, just in his own world and almost caused a car accident in the process.
I told my husband I was calling the non-emergency police line and following this kid to see where he goes. That he’s too young to be doing all this alone and one of these times he’s gonna get hit, cause someone else to get hurt, drown, etc. My husband said he thought that was a bit of an overreaction because “my friends and I used to ride our bikes around without our parents when we were that age.” And to essentially mind my own business.
I just want this kid to be safe and I want his parents to be aware of what’s going on. For all I know they might not know what he’s doing. Every time I’ve ever seen him there is no adult to be seen.
Am I off base here? Am I over reacting or is this worth a non-emergency call the next time I see this kid alone?