Kind man walks 6-year-old girl to school after spotting her walking alone with no shoes
Kids have been walking to school for as long as there have been schools to attend, but it's less common nowadays. It's especially uncommon to see a small child walking to school alone without older siblings or an adult. Joshua Threatt, a young father, found himself witnessing a six-year-old girl pass by him while making the long trek to the local elementary school alone in Detroit.
Immediately, the man recognized the danger the child could potentially find herself in if someone with ill intentions approached. Not only was the 10-block walk not safe for someone so young to walk alone, but the young girl was not even dressed properly for the cold weather. Being a dad himself, Threatt decided to ensure the child made it to school safely. He documented the cold, emotional walk on video before uploading it to social media in hopes of finding the child's family.
In the original video, Threatt is seen with tears streaming down his face as he expresses his frustration about the girl's parents leaving her to walk alone. The little girl was not wearing shoes, a hat, gloves, or a scarf, though there was snow on the ground. Throughout the video, the man can be heard checking in with people they passed, asking if they knew the child or her parents. The child walked closely behind him the entire time as they sloshed through the snow.
Snow-covered brick building under a clear winter sky.Photo credit: Canva
Threatt owns a truck, but he did not want the appearance of doing something inappropriate, which is why he made the entire 10-block walk with the child. After several tears on his part mixed with a profanity-filled rant for the girl's absent parents, the duo made it to the local elementary school. The emotional man explained the situation, and someone inside the school can be heard confirming that the child attends the school.
Once he realized the young girl was safe, Threatt broke down into sobs briefly, explaining, "She's probably scared, she's been walking about ten blocks." When the administrator asks the child where her sister is, Threatt shares through tears, "She's probably scared. So many people just pulled up on that little girl. I'm so happy I seent her. I'm so happy I seent her."
Threatt explains to ABC 7 Detroit that he was able to get in touch with the girl's father after the incident and had a "man-to-man" conversation. But according to the news station, police informed them that this isn't the first time this has happened to the child, and Child Protective Services is now involved with the family.
Threatt's original Facebook Live post has now been shared over 39K times and has more than 44K comments, with many people applauding his actions. One person writes, "You was placed there for a reason. God bless you King. We need more people like you in this world. True definition of a Village."
Snowy school crossing scene.Photo credit: Canva
Another says, "I’m so glad you did this. It could’ve been bad if it was someone else."
Someone else writes, "Whew I’m crying !!!! How do we make sure this doesn’t happen another day … I pray the school has a conversation with the parents !! God is going to bless you for the sacrifice you made today .. this is heart breaking .. yall we all need to be the village !!! Thank you for this!!!"
Yellow school buses blanketed in snow.Photo credit: Canva
In a follow-up post, Threatt says he got in contact with the mother and hopes to help get the little girl what she needs. While some people are suggesting the parents should be charged, others are pointing out that the issue could be childcare. Jessica Dupnack from Fox 2 shared an update saying that the child is safe with a relative. Judging from the comments and updates from the man's page, it looks as if Threatt and community members are setting up a way to help the girl and her family to reduce the risk of this happening again.