Would you call the cops on your kid?

[holy king]

i plan on my children becoming such utter failures that i'd have to call the military.

 

[Shadylookin]

Is that like animal control? That should totally exist.

child services does exist usually they come around when they think children are being abused, but there's nothing that says the parent cant call them up and ask them to take them away because they are unable as parents to control their child.

Perhaps slightly unorthodox, but in my opinion if you honestly can't control your child it's probably best to put the kid in (presumably) better hands.

 

[MobBoss]

Lets clarify a few points.

I assume if a kid is going to steal a thousand bucks or so from you they are a) old enough to know what the hell they are doing and b) doing it by steal your credit card and/or personel checks in some fashion. I consider this a serious crime and a huge breach of respect between the child and the parents.

At this point we can assume that, as a parent, you have indeed failed somehow if your kid thinks its ok to steal from you like that. They probably think you are a) such an idiot you wont miss the cash; b) such a spineless idiot that you wont do anything about it.

The first and foremost thing that needs to be reestablished in the kids respect for his parents. This is accomplished by not allowing the little . .. .. .. . to get away with such things. Parents have to set rules and boundaries for this type of behavior, and enforce those rules and boundaries 100%. Calling the cops is precisely the right thing to do.

 

[Luckymoose]

I would call the cops on my kid(s) in a heartbeat if they happened to break the law. Nothing teaches the lesson like a night or two in jail.

 

[holy king]

I would call the cops on my kid(s) in a heartbeat if they happened to break the law. Nothing teaches the lesson like a night or two in jail.

what if your daughter murdered someone? 25 years in jail isnt particularly a "lesson"...

 

[Bigfoot3814]

I would call the cops on my kid(s) in a heartbeat if they happened to break the law. Nothing teaches the lesson like a night or two in jail.

Or a permanent criminal record following them for the rest of thier life.

 

[holy king]

Or a permanent criminal record following them for the rest of thier life.

things that will get you in jail for a night or two wont give you a permanent criminal record though, will they? thinking about it... what gets you into jail for just a night? except for being drunk...

 

[skadistic]

things that will get you in jail for a night or two wont give you a permanent criminal record though, will they? thinking about it... what gets you into jail for just a night? except for being drunk...

Depends on what day you were arrested or how many people were arrested that day. Typically you will see a magistrate to determine if you get bail that night but if you get arrested on a friday you may not see one till monday. Many first time misdemeanors will be released on personal recognizance.

 

[LucyDuke]

what if your daughter murdered someone? 25 years in jail isnt particularly a "lesson"...

Why? Would you protect your child from the law if it were a murderer?

 

[holy king]

Why? Would you protect your child from the law if it were a murderer?

i dont know. kind of extreme situation. probably?

 

[Rossiya]

I would make sure those children pay for any crime they do.

 

[Luckymoose]

things that will get you in jail for a night or two wont give you a permanent criminal record though, will they? thinking about it... what gets you into jail for just a night? except for being drunk...

I've been in twice, once for drinking in public underage and once for something you don't need to know about.

 

[holy king]

I've been in twice, once for drinking in public underage and once for something you don't need to know about.

hm... i've been sentenced to two months on probation once, never been in jail for a second though...
guess that's easier to achieve in the usa...

 

[Eukaryote]

If they were smoking pot, drinking, or commiting a minor in family crime I wouldn't call the cops.

However if they stole a thousand bucks from me, were driving drunk, or smoking crack I definatly would.

 

[GenMarshall]

I assume if a kid is going to steal a thousand bucks or so from you they are a) old enough to know what the hell they are doing and b) doing it by steal your credit card and/or personel checks in some fashion.

Calling the cops is precisely the right thing to do.

I disagree. Calling the cops on the kid for stealing $1,000 in cash is just silly and the wrong thing to do. Why waste the police department's time (and taxpayer's money) punishing your child for a petty crime that a parent can punish the child themselves?

 

[skadistic]

I disagree. Calling the cops on the kid for stealing $1,000 in cash is just silly and the wrong thing to do. Why waste the police department's time (and taxpayer's money) punishing your child for a petty crime that a parent can punish the child themselves?

Felony grand theft is not a petty crime.

 

[Birdjaguar]

It is nice to see that many of you recognize that there are lots of grey areas in all this, which was the point of the original post. Certainly death or injury to another or theft from another would cause me to consider calling the cops. Mobboss seems to draw the circle close in and is ready to call the police long before many others. For me, events that only effect the family can be solved by the family and only as a last resort when parental efforts have failed, would I bring in outsiders.

BTW, you cannot judge parental success/failure by the events of child's teenage years. Teenagers are fundamentally insane and do all kinds of really stupid stuff. You are better off judging parental success when their children reach 30. A case can be made that if your kids don't go through a serious rebellion stage, then you have failed as a parent.

AND a woman who held a babe against
her bosom said, Speak to us of Children. And he said:

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.

You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
Which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.

You are the bows from which your
children as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite, and He bends you with His might that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies, so He loves also the bow that is stable.

 

[LucyDuke]

i dont know. kind of extreme situation. probably?

I'm just amazed that you're not certain.

I disagree. Calling the cops on the kid for stealing $1,000 in cash is just silly and the wrong thing to do. Why waste the police department's time (and taxpayer's money) punishing your child for a petty crime that a parent can punish the child themselves?

It's not wasting the police department's time. For one thing, as has been said, if your kid stole $1K already, you're probably not in a position where you can punish your child properly. For another, the job of the police is to enforce the law. Your child has broken the law, not stayed out past curfew. Children shouldn't be shielded from the real world, and in the real world, if you steal $1K, you're going to be arrested.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

I'd have to play it by ear.

 

[holy king]

I'm just amazed that you're not certain.

well, it would be my kid's life at stake...