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Imagine driving home from work at night, and you can barely see a group of kids playing at the edge of the road. You don’t hit them, but you realize that it would be super easy for another driver not to notice them.

Would you warn the kids and try to make them understand how dangerous it is for them to be playing so close to cars, or would you mind your own business?

In this story, one young woman finds herself in this situation. She decides to confront the kids, but the next day, one of the kids’ moms is really upset and defensive.

Keep reading to see if you think anyone did anything wrong in this story.

AITA for lecturing the neighborhood kids?

The other day we had pretty heavy rain.

It was really hard to see because this happened at night, and the streetlamps went out.

I was on my way home for work and about to pull into my driveway when I saw a group of kids playing in a puddle on the edge of the road, and they were wearing dark clothes.

I had to swerve not to hit them just in time.

She confronted the kids.

I parked and got out and asked the kids what they thought they were doing. I told them I could’ve hit them, and they might not be so lucky with the next car because we have a lot of people who speed through the neighborhood.

The kids were about 11/12, so they responded by giving me snark and telling me I can’t tell them what to do.

I told them I’d call the cops if they didn’t go inside; it was a bluff but they believed me and headed into a house nearby.

Then a mom confronted her.

Today I was heading to my car and one of the mothers called me over. She yelled at me for lecturing her kids and said she wouldn’t have let them play out there if it was do dangerous.

I asked if she knew where they’d been playing.

And she said they were in the yard.

OP told her what really happened.

So I told her that her kids lied to her and they just narrowly avoided getting hit.

She said I was way too far calling the cops on a group of kids and that she doesn’t need some girl in her 20s to look after her children.

My mom said I was right to say something but not to threaten them with the cops.

Threatening to call the cops may have been a bit extreme, but at least it got the kids out of the road and back home where they would be safe. OP was only trying to get the kids somewhere safe.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

This person thinks she shouldn’t have mentioned the cops.

Another person points out how serious the situation was.

This person thinks she could’ve been nicer about it.

Another person understands why she mentioned calling the cops.

The mom clearly doesn’t understand how much danger the kids were really in. They shouldn’t be playing anywhere near the street at night. That’s way too dangerous.

OP was only trying to watch out for the kids. Calling the cops was an empty threat to get them to take the situation seriously. It’s too bad it came to that, but it worked.