What would you have done?

Very difficult, given the power of hindsight, I think I would take his car reg number and phone the police immediately. 99.99% it was a harassed dad. But, God, how would you feel if it was an abduction and you did nothing.

I think I might have risked a wimpish"Excuse me is there a problem? Kids, eh. Is this your daughter/daddy ?" (Depending who I was addressing it to)
I hope so.

Photographs of man, child and car then phone police. Better safe than sorry.
Hopefully it was merely a tantrum at leaving the playground!

Being quick enough to find your phone and take a picture is unlikely and could get you in trouble if it is innocent.
I only once challenged a parent about their child. A boy was deliberately trying to break down a tree that had been planted a few weeks before. I very politely asked his mother to ask him to stop. I got a string of FFFFFFFF off etc.

I once stopped a man who was dragging a small child through a shopping centre, the child was screaming he didn't want to go and wanted his mother. Everything was fine but I was shaking and very nervous but was still very glad I did.

I'd have taken the car reg number and made sure the man saw me watching.

I would have asked the man if it was his daughter, giving her the opportunity to speak up.If all was well, I would apologise, but say 'you can never be too careful'.

The same as rosesarered - in fact I did just that in our town the other week. A small child was being pulled along by a man and screaming and crying 'I want my Mummy', so I followed them and then saw them meet up with a group of mums, dads and other children whereupon the child seemed happy. I did say to him - 'I hope you don't mind but I just wanted to make sure this was your child' and he seemed pleased that I was concerned.

What a dilemma especially if you had children to look after in the play park too,you don't want to take your eyes off your own. I would like to think I would say something,better getting a mouthful of abuses back than letting a child be abducted. Luckily it doesn't happen very often.

Taken the car reg number definitely. Maybe said something to the girl like "were you having a good time." To give her the chance to speak.

Paedophiles are not normally that obvious, they know how to lure children to come with them. They practice and groom children into friendships and shared secrets. They do not appear to be nasty people in fact the complete opposite, they are the helpful friend. They often target single women with children.

Not easy to say without being there on the day and pick up all the vibes. I would have tried to engage with the child in a friendly way as ajanela says- to give him/her a chance to speak- and made careful notes of the man's appearance and taken car number- and passed on to police- explaining the situtation and that it is just in case.

It's very hard to tell. I watched my children coming home from school. They stopped and spoke to a man. When they arrived I asked them why they had spoken to a strange man and they replied,'' oh he's not strange we see him every day.'' Taught me a lesson!

Like Ana I would of made it very obvious I was watching and taken down the reg had I been brave I might of asked the child if she were alright but these days goodness knows the reaction of the parents.

I think if it was a paedophile he would not have dragged a screaming child away in full view of others, he would find an easier target. Think how many times you see a child screaming in the supermarket because they want sweets and the parent says no (before giving in).
Perhaps in such a situation you could pretend to know the child and go up to her and say something like "Hello Mary (use any name) where's mummy today?" The child will say I don't know you and you can say sorry you look just like another child - maybe ask if she has a sister or just continue the conversation in any way before saying goodbye, that way u get a good look at the man and he'll know it.

Having worked with paedophiles I'm sure I'd feel concerned re rather heavy handed parenting in the park and may have taken the car number plate etc - but paedophiles tend to have good social skills and don't usually resort to this dangerously obvious strategy. As ajanela says, they would generally target and befriend single mothers, quickly becoming a favoured friend, in order to obtain access to the children in future.

Only once in 5 years did a paedophile I worked with seem odd/dodgy in any way. All the others would have been seen as ordinary friendly and straightforward men. without knowing their history they could have been anyone's 'helpful neighbour'.

Well said rosesarered

Definitely approach and ask if all was ok. Would rather upset a father than live with the remorse of knowing I should have done something x

Ask the child who the adult is. Of course, you could get the 'Ben in "Outnumbered" effect where the little rascal was yelling, "This is not my father" when it was.

We have had four incidences in our area of Surrey last week, of children being approached outside schools, one outside DGS & DGD's school, & one outside the school where my niece teaches, so I would definitely approach & ask if everything was OK.

@GandTea , there's nothing about taking photographs in public that can get you in trouble. It's not illegal. Unlikely that most people would be quick enough, unless you had a phone in your hand already.
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The research into helping behaviour done by Darley and Latane in the 1960s might be of interest. Their work was done after an infamous incident in which the occupants of a tenement stood at their windows for half an hour, watching a woman being raped and murdered without calling the police.

It might sound bizarre, but their research showed that whilst the probability of any individual witness intervening to help is 85% if alone, this figure drops to just 31% when there are four or more others. It also showed that if no one acts within the first three minutes, it’s unlikely that anyone will. A major factor is the psychology of conformity: someone will leave a building they believe to be on fire if alone, but if there are others ignoring the danger they will ignore it too.

D&L identified five key stages involved in helping behaviour:

You must notice the incident.
You must interpret the incident as one where help is required.
You must assume personal responsibility.
You must decide what action to take.
You must act.

The second is undermined when you just perceive the incident as innocent behaviour.
The third is undermined when there is more than one witness.
The fourth: D&L found that their subjects were scared, sweaty, and trembling afterwards, and unable to give a coherent account of their actions. They had been paralysed by indecision, and were not just apathetic as had been assumed.

Subsequently, research by Arthur Beaman showed that people who have been educated in D&L’s five steps are twice as likely to help in an emergency as people who haven’t.

There was absolutely no way it would have been possible to talk to the child, it was a full blown tantrum & she wouldn't have responded, probably wouldn't have even been aware that she was being spoken to. I'm sure most of you have had experience of dramatic tantrums!
The problem was resolved when the other parent arrived & the exasperated father handed the child over! Did make me think though

I have been on the other end of this. My GS is autistic and, when younger, would sit down and refuse to move whenever he felt like it if he was overwhelmed with noise or strange place etc. This particular day he laid on the pavement by a busy road, screaming and kicking. A lady approached with a very concerned look on her face and asked if he was alright, which distracted him enough for me to get him up and continue on our way. I thanked her for her concern but she continued to follow and watch us for some time. I was perfectly happy for her to do that and felt reassured that there was at least one good soul willing to question the situation.

Always best to intervene.
Much better to eat humble pie and apologise,than risk ignoring a child in need.