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The debate about whether it's acceptable to tell off another person's child is always a fierce one.

And one mum has sparked it off all over again after an incident in a supermarket car park, during which a complete stranger accused her son of being cheeky.

The woman asked for reassurance on Mumsnet under the username WobbleYourHead.

She explained how she had been in a supermarket car park with her nine-year-old son, who had taken the trolley back to retrieve the £1 coin.

Mum had jumped in the car and was driving the short distance across the car park to pick him up.

She admitted he was "being a bit of a monkey" and "was trying to put the trolley back 'handle to handle' as opposed to slotting it in."

When she drove up to collect him, she noticed a woman "telling him off". She was "saying something along the lines of he shouldn't have spoken to her like that..."

The mum asked the woman what her son had said and she replied: "He was being cheeky".

She explained: "So I questioned again what exactly he'd said and she just repeated that he was cheeky.

"So I told her she had no right to tell him off, she said she wasn't and the exchange went on for several minutes with her still refusing to tell me what he'd actually said."

(Image: AFP)

When the mum turned to her son and asked him to explain the encounter, he said he'd "basically repeated back 'well that isn't nice' (her telling him) at which point she had a go at him!"

Asking other parents if they thought she was being unreasonable, the mum said: "If she had an issue the least she could have done was spoken to me but in the grand scheme of things there was absolutely no need for her to say anything to him at all."

If she was looking for someone to back her up, she didn't really find it on Mumsnet.

Other mums started to reply saying it sounded like her son was being rude and probably deserved a little telling off.

poll loading Is it ever acceptable to tell off another person's child? 11000+ VOTES SO FAR No, it's never acceptable Yes, if they're being cheeky

RestlessTraveller wrote: "Your son was misbehaving, you weren't there and when somebody else said something he took the p*ss. I'd have said something to him too."

iamUberA commented: "A little confused but sounds like your son was rude to her??"

YouTheCat said: "Your ds was a cheeky little sod. I'd be mortified if a member of the public had felt the need to pull them up on their behaviour."

LottieDoubtie agreed, writing: "He was rude and an adult pointed this out to him and then to you.



"I think I'd be embarrassed and telling my 9 year old off in the car myself not having a second go at the stranger that's already had a 9 year old being cheeky to her."