NTA. If they behave like this with a parent / adult present, what happens when they find a victim on their own?

NTA. "It takes a village." I'm old- Gen X. But back in my day if any of us were being little shits any parent could step in and scold. I was putting a muddy plank in a mailbox one day (who knows why)? And a neighbor came out and chastised me. I stopped doing that. Once I ran in front of a car on a busy street. It was a neighbor. She grabbed me, put me in the car, drove me home, and told my mom. Never did that again. These kids are turning into bullies. Like going to go to jail when they grow up bullies. Mom should be thanking this guy. And wife should be backing him up.

NTA. Full stop. Nothing more to add

I have a rhetorical question here: Why would OP think he's an AH for standing up for those kids that didn't have a voice yet and getting in their sh*tbag excuse of a mother's face when she tried to defend her little monsters' actions??? Instead of an AH, he's the stand-up guy that these kids need. As for those little monsters and their sh*tbag mother, not so tough when the bullied rally back now, huh???!!! Smh!!!

Pull out that phone and record their behavior. As long as you’re recording just that. Same thing happened on my moms block, with a park across the street. 3 little shît terrorists between 9-12. Parents were defending their bully boys. A neighbor recorded them bullying kids and chasing a girl on the grass trying to lift up her dress. He yelled at them , scolded them and called the cops. Cops took statement & spoke to the parents. Nothing happened. So he posted the video on YouTube, put links up on Nextdoor then printed flyers with a screencap and warning with the shortened YouTube link. Must have put flyers up on every free surface. Was the talk of the hood for while until bully family was evicted. Who knows why they were, but they were.

that's just terrible, OP is definitely not the a*****e

Def not the AH. He was not scolding someone else's kids but protecting his daughter. The scariest part is these brats had the gall to do this in front of the parent. Most kids would be on their best behavior in front of adults. Imagine what they'd do or say when no one was close by. And, that the boys' parents don't care what they do as long as they're not "yelled at"

NTA - My boys were in the 2nd grade and were targeted by a group of 5th graders. I didn't know it was happening. I left work early one day to surprise the boys after school. As I drove around to the pick up area I saw both of my boys pinned to the side of a car by a group of 7 or 8 boys. One of them was slapping my quietest boy. I saw red! I jumped from my car running at these little monsters like they were a pack of dogs. The leader of the pack has the audacity to try and face me down. I asked him, calmly, where he lived and he wanted to know why. I said "So I can go kick your parents a*s. I am guessing they are bullies too since they seem to be raising a bully." Not my best day but damn I was mad. The up side is the bullies were scared to death of me after that and never bothered my sons again.

Oh, so much rage. NTA for sure and people who think you're "going too far" at speaking up for two very vulnerable beings against future "men" is the very reason why we have problems in our society. Just, so gross. I'd say so much more if a boy had the audacity to speak to my almost 3 yr old like that.

I think that those who are bullies at home take that poor behavior with them into the world. They are belittled and seek power over others to regain power play. Obviously they pick on those who do not have the ability to fight back. Dad's intervention is appropriate. Instead of tell the mother who confronted these two, I might have explained simply that they bullied younger children and "I wondered who is causing them harm, your aggressive behavior gives me a hint as to where they get this behavior. ". Go home and work with your children. And shut the door. Done. Modeling the way to stand up, not stand by idle is the message for his wife. NTA

This dad is great! If the other girl was my daughter and I found out what he did, I would bake him some cookies!

Why tF are 10 year old boys preying on little girls many years younger than they are???

I once went ballistic on about 6 kids bullying my 10 year old daughter. They cried and I felt great!

NTA at all. That's terrifying. Kids grow up and if they never get resistance those nasty childhood habits become a sense that they're entitled to assault and harrass and abuse. You have to teach kids things, it takes a village etc.

If my 10 year old bullied a toddler and the toddler's parents told him off, well. I'd phone said toddler's parents, arrange to meet, and have my kid lectured about bullying and make him apologize. Fortunately my son is a gem with toddler's. He likes to help them at playgrounds because older kids did the same for him when he was learning how to ride his scooter. These high school boys just took him under their wing and made sure he was safe. He learned some colourful language however.

Handled extremely well other than telling their mom her kids are pieces of s**t. They are but that was only going to set her off. I imagine the father is exaggerating that part, but calmly relaying what happened is the best approach. If the mom still does listen, then you tell her her kids are pieces of s**t … like her.

I agree wholeheartedly, and their mother could use a few sharp words too!

You need to get the cops involved and the UK equivalent of Child Protective Services. Not against the kids, but the parents. Clearly they've been teaching their kids that doing these things are ok, if not good.

NTA! Go round to their house and scream at the mom that if she doesn't sort her little b*stard out, you are calling the police and reporting her and if you see her kids bully your or any other kid in the area again, now that you know where she lives, you will tell the rest of the parents where to find her, and she can expect more visitors who probably won't be so polite. Hopefully the prospect of a random parent turning up and knocking her out will make her sort her kids out

when kids are not taught kindness, consideration, and f*****g boundaries, you get little shits like that! I was never shy about setting kids straight and never cared if someone had an issue with it!

if you speak to a toddler like that, i retain the right to box your ears

This is a SoCal services issue. if you're in the UK, I do hope you reported the b***h and her shits for teroizing little girls. Thats jamie Bulger type aggression and the police will be all over those shits.

Hanging on nearby street lamp would be going to far. Anything else is fine.

You didn't take it far enough

My initial thought was "You know where they get it from". But to be fair to the Mum, they could have told her a bunch of lies about that awful man who threatened them for no good reason. Any mum would get upset and confront the guy as a result.

I would have done far worst. These people grow up to be pieces of s**t that terrorize and traumatize others of they're not stopped.

NTA & thank you. One of m' kids was once bullied & harrassed by a group of "mean girls" that were audacious enough to ring the house, be smart to me, & come to the front o' the house. Speakin to their parents was a complete waste of time (go figure.) I was walking behind my kids on a sidewalk going into a school function when lo & behold here comes one of the bullies & she sshoulder- shoved m' kid right in front o'me ( she'd never seen me.) I took two steps, grabbed her neck & slammed her down on the grass. She was absolutely shocked, crying & her mum just stood there w/ her mouth hanging open. I told her that either she handle this problem or I would. Problem solved...

Honestly?? You are absolutely NOT in the wrong here. Those boys are lucky they only got scolded, because there are people out there who don’t take kindly to intimidation of their children & will do worse than scold them. But they’re going to end up in trouble with the police one day, if the so-called “mother” continues to let her crotch-goblins run rampant & it’s almost guaranteed that they’ll become deadly criminals someday. Someone has to step in & take charge of those little hellions, if the Mega-Karen is incapable of disciplining an unruly child (though really, she never should’ve spawned in the first place, if she won’t even take responsibility). You had every right to protect your own child & even though that other girl wasn’t yours to protect, I’m sure her parents would’ve appreciated you stepping in to defend her from those bully boys. Also, having seen cases like the James Bulger murder? Obviously we can’t let that sort of behaviour slide. 😕🤷‍♀️

Just for fun, I'd ask some brawny high school