Children deserve to feel safe and protected, especially inside the home, but what’s the right thing to do when the parents are arguing? Should the children listen or leave?

This man is friends with a couple whose marriage has become rocky over the past few months.

He visited them one night and witnessed a heated argument between them, so he made a quick decision to remove their son from the chaos.

Now, he’s second guessing that decision.

Check out the story below.

AITA for taking the kid away from the situation?

I (29) grew up with three friends: Josh, Amy, and Henry.

Josh and Amy are married and have a son, Tim (7).

Unfortunately, their marriage has hit a big rough patch.

This man visited Josh and Amy and witnessed them fighting.

Amy says that Josh spends too much on drinking and betting on horse races.

He accuses her of buying many brand name accessories and only using them a few times each.

They had frequent arguments that have only gotten worse.

Yesterday, I visited and found them in the middle of one.

He offered to take the boy to their friend’s restaurant.

There was a shouting match with insults like “degenerate gambler” and “superficial witch.”

So I told them, “You want me to take Tim to Henry’s restaurant?”

Amy said, “Yes, please,” and Josh just nodded.

Their friend Henry shared what he thought about the whole situation.

When we got there and Tim got his dinner, I talked to Henry.

We were standing away not too far away from the table, whispering.

Henry told me Tim is old enough to understand what is going on with his parents and that adults can be mean to each other.

He also said shielding children from the truth ends up hurting more than helping.

Was he wrong to remove Tim from his parents’ argument?

Let’s check out what others have to say about this on Reddit.

This person makes a valid point.

This user shares their personal thoughts.

Short and straightforward.

That doesn’t mean he needs to watch it, says this person.

Finally, this user says he did the right thing.

Even if they understand what’s going on, children should still be protected from a toxic environment.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.