Can I park my car over night at Bridgewater state college campus train station?

My sister is not looking after her daughter properly, but I don't want to involve social services. What's your opinion all this?

• My sister is a single mother to a 10 year old girl, on thursday I went too stay at my sisters for a week for the first time in years, when I arrived in her town her and her daughter came to meet me at the train station it was a freezing afternoon I couldnt believe my eyes when I saw them, my sister was wearing about 4 layers and a big coat, her daughter was only wearing a sleeveless top and tiny shorts and sandless shes extremely skinny and she was wearing a full face of make up and nail polish on her finger nails and toe nails, (shes only 10), she ran up too me and hugged me, it was scary how cold her hands and arms were, they were like ice, I tried to make her wear my coat but she wouldnt and my sister said something like "she chose to come out dressed like that, let her freeze" on the walk home my sisters daughter held my hand her hand was so cold and I could feel her shivering, we were getting loads of funny looks because she was wearing so little, I also noticed she had a terrible congested cough like an 80 year old smoker, when we got back I couldnt believe what I was seeing when my sister pulled out a pack of cigarettes took one out and passed it to her daughter and took one herself lit them both and sat there and smoked with her 10 year old daughter, over the night I watched her daughter sit and smoke 16 ciggerettes, she was smoking properly aswell, my sisters daughter didnt go to bed till way after 3am, on friday morning my sister woke her daughter and gave her a cup of.Coffe and a ciggerette, hers daughters cough in the morning sounds worse then any cough ive ever heard, I confronted my sistee about her bad paranting and it ended in a big arguement so I left it, everyday my sisters daughter goes to school in the freezing cold wearing a skirt and a short sleeve shirt with no coat or school sweatshirt she walks far to school and back, and when she gets home she often goes and plays with her friends never wearing anything other then sleeveless tops and skirts, she often doesnt come home till after 8. Since thursday ive watched her smoke and go out wearing next to nothing, but things got much worse last night, my sisters daughter went out about 5 like she normally does wearing a sleeveless top that was too small for her and left her tummy completely bare and some shorts, it got to nine and she wasnt home I spoke to my sister and she didnt seem worried, I was worried she had froze to death or been hit by a car or something so at about 10 I went looking for, I eventually found her laid on a bench at a local park still wearing next to nothing, I shook her to wake her and her arms were so cold I honestly thought she was dead, her fingers were like ice, I began to dial 999 then my sisters daughter started coughing and I realised she was alive, she was so cold though, I picked her up and carried her home showed my sister the state of her and made her feel how cold she was, my sister didnt even care, I made her take a hot shower then sent her too bed, this morning she refused to go to school and my sister just let her, she sat around all day smoking ciggerettes and drinking coffee, things are ridiculous though, my sisters daughters room is next to the room im stayin in and all I hear all night is my sisters daughters horrible loud congested cough, it sounds really serious though I can even hear her coughing and gasping right now, no doubt it is because she smokes, if you were in my situation now what would you do?

• Answer:

  Call social services, now. Your own attempts to intercede haven't been successful. It sounds as if your sister's parenting is catastrophic and your niece is in serious peril, assuming this is a truthful account. If you care to any degree about your niece's well-being -- or your sister's -- the call to social services should be a very easy one to make.