How normal is your normal looking neighbourhood?

Walking by my neighbourhood today, I heard a high pitched scream, probably from a little girl.

I was appalled, not by the scream, but my reaction to it. I coolly walked by the house, not a second thought to what I heard, not even a second glance to the probable place it came from, no anxiety;  it was as if I never heard the scream.

I have seen the children of the house. I have seen them playing outside. They shout, they scream, they are normal kids.  So, I think, my first instinct was that it was just the kids playing around. And I think, until I realized how I reacted to “a scream”, it was the only instinct I had.

But can I be certain that the scream I heard was not indicative of child or sexual abuse? Or am I just watching too many movies, and reading too many articles of abuse?
If it was a scream arising from abuse, I just turned a deaf ear to it.  …

I don’t know and am not sure if anybody or everybody reacts the way I did.

But today it got me thinking, how normal is a normal looking neighbourhood? And if there is abuse happening in it, how much are we a part of it by playing deaf and dumb? (by playing good neighbours?)