How to address misbehaving kids (not one's own)


Say you are in public and see some other people's kids misbehaving. What is
the appropriate way to address them? (both sexes)

Something on the line of: "Hey kid, don't do ..."

It might be specific to the degree of misbehavior so let's give some kind of
scale:

  1. Culturally not accepted I.e.: Being loud in a temple
  2. Not immediately dangerous I.e. Littering
  3. Not life-threatening I.e.: Being in a fight
  4. Life threatening I.e.: Playing very closely to train tracks of an incoming train




It's indeed hard to say as there are many ways and it depends on the
situation. That said, こら(or コラ） can be used in most situations. All you need
to do is regulate how short and loud you say it, depending on severity.

When you say こら loud and short, it unmistakably signals you are scolding the
other person. It can be used as a joke, but if you say it to young children
they will almost always interpret it as being scolded. It can be used for any
severity IMO, and you can basically escalate on a continuous scale. Though if
the situation is urgent one might want to shout instructions instead
(降りろ・降りなさい、離れろ・離れなさい、やめろ・やめなさい etc)




It's indeed hard to say as there are many ways and it depends on the
situation. That said, こら(or コラ） can be used in most situations. All you need
to do is regulate how short and loud you say it, depending on severity.

When you say こら loud and short, it unmistakably signals you are scolding the
other person. It can be used as a joke, but if you say it to young children
they will almost always interpret it as being scolded. It can be used for any
severity IMO, and you can basically escalate on a continuous scale. Though if
the situation is urgent one might want to shout instructions instead
(降りろ・降りなさい、離れろ・離れなさい、やめろ・やめなさい etc)

