Some kids don’t always understand the impact of their actions, but that doesn’t excuse bad behavior.

So, what would you do if you saw a child about to harm an innocent animal?

Would you stay silent to avoid conflict with their parent?

Or would you step in and say something?

In the following story, one man finds himself facing this very decision and decides to save the duck.

Here’s how it all went down.

AITAH for yelling at stranger’s child who was attempting to hit a duck with a stick?

Last Saturday, my wife and I took our daughter to the local botanical gardens.

The one we go to has a small area where you can feed Koi and ducks, it’s my daughter’s favorite area so we usually give her some extra time there.

As we were getting to the Koi, I noticed a child who was between 8 and 10 crumble up a paper bag and just toss it in the grass.

It sits there for a couple of minutes until my wife picks it up and throws it in a trash can, so obviously, no one is really watching this kid.

The kid comes back… armed.

The kid comes back over to the fish and ducks and proceeds to angrily swear at the ducks.

I specifically hear him yell, “You stupid *** ducks!”

I don’t know what this kid has against ducks, but it was odd.

He then walks off but then comes back, this time with a stick that’s about three to four feet long, proclaiming, “I’m going to get that duck.”

He is about five feet from me, and I could see him positioning the stick to strike a duck that he was luring with food.

I then shout/yell at the kid, “HEY, LEAVE THAT DUCK ALONE. PUT THAT STICK DOWN.”

Then, his mother appeared.

The kid responds with, “But the ducks are taking the fish’s food.”

I respond by telling him that I don’t care and to put the stick down.

It’s at this point the child’s mother appears, and the kid immediately starts crying, and his mom starts consoling him.

It’s at this point we walk away.

Then, as we were leaving, another guy approached me and tried to scold me for yelling at a stranger’s kid.

AITA?

Sounds like someone needs supervision from now on.

Let’s see what the readers over at Reddit have to say about this situation.

This person yelled at a kid over his own dog.

Zookeepers do not tolerate that behavior.

Here’s someone who also saw a kid messing with ducks.

As this comment points out, ducks can’t help themselves.

This kid needs some discipline.

Hopefully, he said something to the mother before leaving because this kid should be in trouble for even thinking about it.

If you enjoyed that story, read this one about a mom who was forced to bring her three kids with her to apply for government benefits, but ended up getting the job of her dreams.