6 year old walks in house: call police or handle it yourself?

[Deear HDD]

If a child of about six years were to just walk into your house what would your first instinct be? Would you call the police, or would you try to handle the situation yourself first?

[BrokenAngel]

I think I'd call the police just to be on the safe side... but I guess it would also depend on what's going on with the kid. Either way it's always a good idea to call in the professionals lol

[shadow7549]

This question leaves a LOT open to the imagination, so I'll provide my own details.

I would handle the situation on my own at first, and then contact the appropriate authorities if a problem persists.

Consider that I'm a homebody by nature, to the extent that the COVID lockdown doesn't really bother me. I am almost always home, and my doors always locked, so if a young child just appeared in my house, calling the cops would be the last of my immediate concerns. Am I hallucinating? Am I seeing a ghost? Am I have a stroke? If I'm not, and there really is a kid in my house, that means there might be someone else too, and if that was true, they would be far more concerning than the child.
I can't say *exactly* what actions I would immediately take, but I would need to determine what the situation was before I would be able to contact anyone. If I'm in voice chat with someone, I might tell them to call the cops for me, but I do not feel it's something I have the liberty of doing myself until I've determined there are no immediate threats, real or imagined. Seconds matter.
Now, assuming everything was fine, it was just the kid, they were lost and scared and crawled in through the doggy door or something, then sure. Give them some snacks, turn on the TV and call the cops.
Any other scenario, I can't imagine ending well.

I think I put way too much thought into this

[ZetsuRavez]

why would you call a police for a 6 yrs old child??.. its not like that child- OMG IT HAS A GUUUN!!!

[Tiotsh]

I would personally handle it myself first thing.
I don't think age is that important because it could be a survival instinct that we all have: seek shelter.
Now what if the boy is being abused by his caretakers, would it be a good idea to call the police? Maybe they would get involved at some point, but it doesn't mean you will return that person back to safety. So I would think it's best to ascertain the reason the person/boy is here and take appropriate actions without getting too involved. Every situation is different, but better not rush it

[SoraAoi]

Calling the police or the local child protection authority. But if you are in US and the child is POC then definitly don't call the police.

[forecast]

Call the neighbors as a start to see if anyone recognizes the kid, then call the police.

You only ask the neighbors quickly since if a child is missing, parents tend to spiral into panic quickly and they call the police quickly.
If an amber alert is in effect, you want to respond quickly.

Of course there could be other circumstances like the kid is injured, looks abused and so on, in which you would call the police right away.