I witnessed my friend's nine-year-old son do something horrifying... now I believe he is unstable and dangerous

Daily Mail​

21-04-2025

A mom has detailed her concern over a family friend's child - claiming he is 'mentally disturbed and dangerous.'
The anonymous woman, who shared her worries to Reddit, explained her friend of 10 years has a nine-year-old son who often plays with her six-year-old daughter.
'There were three things in particular that I witnessed while they playing on separate occasions recently,' she shared in the post.
The first incident was when the children were playing in her daughter's above ground foldable pool, with the young boy trying to persuade her to play something he called 'a drowning game.'
'He was trying to convince my daughter to play a game where they took turns holding each other's head under the water,' the horrified mom shared.
'I stepped in immediately and told them both no that will not be happening,' she continued. 'His own grandmother was there at the time to witness this instance and she gave him a very half hearted reprimand which I found baffling.'
'It set off alarm bells in my head instantly but I eventually let it go under the premise of children simply doing stupid things because I remembered that games like the "pass out challenge" were a thing when I was a kid,' she wrote.
The second concerning thing the mom saw was when the pair had been playing with one of her daughter's Cabbage Patch Dolls.
'I didn't stay over with them because this wasn't the first time our children have had play dates by the other's house. I trust my friend,' she explained in the post.
However, when she picked her child up a couple of hours later, she was shocked by the state of the doll, which had its hair cut off and marks all over it.
'I wasn't upset just shocked. It's my daughter's doll. She could play with it however she likes,' she reasoned.
The mom was further concerned when she saw the dolls had a threating message on the arm - noticing the words 'I Kill You'- but not in her daughter's handwriting.
'She told me [my] friend's son wrote it. I was concerned and wondered if to address the situation immediately but same as I am now I am unsure of where to even begin,' she confessed. 'Eventually some weeks passed and I forgot it had happened.'
The most recent incident has the mom afraid to let her daughter play with the boy ever again.
'While they were playing in the front yard I saw the boy hold my daughter by her clothes and do stabbing motions,' she recounted.
'I stopped the game immediately, reprimanded them both and called my friend,' she recounted.
'I lied and said I had and emergency to sort out and that she needed to pick up her son now. She came by and picked him up without issue.'
'I am never letting my daughter near that boy after this under any circumstances, even if it's at the cost of my friendship,' she declared.
'I'm unsure of how to tell my friend these things. Should I do it over the phone, through text or face to face?' she asked Reddit users, adding in her friend herself has a 'volatile' nature.
'I remember a distinct instance where she pulled out a knife on her ex husband as a matter of fact,' she shared. 'This is just a very delicate situation and I need some help on how to go about it because I truly think that boy is mentally disturbed and dangerous and needs help.'
Many users expressed concern over her friend, pointing out the young boy may have learned some of his violent tendencies from her.
'I don't want to know what this child is seeing at home. He's modeling that behavior,' one concerned parent commented. 'Tragic as it is you are not the help they need. Get advice since there's no way you can have eyes on your child 100 percent of the time and they live close.'
'I'd be concerned that the boy is being abused and is acting out because of that,' said another, expressing their concern.
'The easiest solution is to stop letting your daughter play with this child. You'll soon regret it otherwise,' suggested another.