Is this a good parenting technique? Mom gets son arrested for opening Christmas gift. (mission, sunday)

[Bishka]

Originally Posted by article

A mother convinced Rock Hill police to arrest her 12-year-old son after he unwrapped a Christmas present early.

The boy's great-grandmother had specifically told him not to open his Nintendo Game Boy Advance, which she had wrapped and placed beneath the Christmas tree, according to a police report.


But on Sunday morning, she found the box of the popular handheld game console unwrapped and opened. When the boy's 27-year-old mother heard about the opened gift, she called police.


"He took it without permission. He wanted it. He just took it," said the 63-year-old great-grandmother.


Both the great-grandmother and the mother asked the boy on Sunday where the present was. The boy replied he didn't know.


When the mother threatened to call the police, the boy went into his room and got the Game Boy, the report stated. She called the police anyway.


Two Rock Hill police officers responded to the home and charged the boy with petty larceny. He was charged as a juvenile and released the same day, said police spokesman Lt. Jerry Waldrop, who added the boy was never held at the jail.


"We wouldn't hold a 12-year-old," he said.


The Herald is not identifying the boy or his mother and great-grandmother because of his age.
On Monday night, the mother said she had her son arrested because she didn't know what else to do.
She had the child when she was 15, the woman said, and has been a single mother struggling to earn a business degree.


She said the boy likes attention and has a history of bad behavior. He has shoplifted from stores and stolen money from her, she said. The boy has also been inching toward expulsion from school, she added, and even punched a police officer last month. He was arrested for disorderly conduct in that incident.


She hoped the arrest would be a wake-up call for him. She dreads getting a phone call someday reporting he's been killed.


The boy "showed no remorse" when the police came, the mother said.
"I'm trying to get him some kind of help," she said. "He's the type of kid who doesn't believe anything until it happens."


Waldrop said the women were seeking help with a problem child. "He is a disruptive, disorderly kid."
Waldrop said he trusted the two responding officers to exercise discretion when deciding whether to arrest the youngster.


"In a case like this, if the parents and grandparents are adamant about it and they feel the child has a serious problem, I can't second-guess what the officers did," Waldrop said.


The mother told police officers that she would have the boy placed with the state Department of Juvenile Justice in Columbia at his court appearance.


Waldrop said he was not aware if Rock Hill police have ever arrested a child for unwrapping Christmas presents early.


"Yeah, it's strange," he said of the case.

link here


What do you think? Were the guardians in this case doing the right thing? Opinions? Comments?

[Buttercup]

I have to be honest and say the first thought that came to my mind was I don't want my tax dollars going to fund city police precincts where this type of thing occurs. How lame is all this?

Policemen are not meant to be family disciplinarians. Their job is to serve and protect the community.

[lunamoth]

Well...right idea but no, that was not good parenting. It's hard to tell from the article but that seems much too harsh for that behaviour. I feel for the mom though...she's obviously desperate and needs some better support.

However...if the kid has behaviour problems like stealing or being violent, it might not be the worst thing to stage some kind of consequence involving civil authorities. But it really would need to be done with a lot of careful planning, and certainly should not be made a matter of public record, resulting in a real arrest, police record, and news reports.

luna

[robtex]

I am no lawyer but I am pretty sure that doesn't quality as theft. It never even left the house it was in. Either way if the kid is put on Juvi the mother is gonna have a heart attack when she gets hit with court costs, fines, and supervision fees. They better not waive those considering what a waste of the taxpayers money this arrest turned out to be.

[Bishka]

Originally Posted by Buttercup

I have to be honest and say the first thought that came to my mind was I don't want my tax dollars going to fund city police precincts where this type of thing occurs. How lame is all this?

Policemen are not meant to be family disciplinarians. Their job is to serve and protect the community.

That were my thoughts on it as well, but I had another thought, what if the boy has some sort of anger management problem or other issue. The article doesn't state so, but still, to have the police department come in?!?

[Circle_One]

You know, I see stuff like this on TV all the time. Parents not being able to control their kids. Parents actually being afraid of their kids. Parents turning to unbiased outside "help" to control their kids.

I'm sorry, but obviously this mother wasn't much of a discaplinarian in the first place to get to the point where she felt the need to call the cops for the child opening a Christmas present.

All I have to say is that MY son would NEVER in his life, in his existence have the [guts] (written like that because there was actually another word I wanted to use instead), to steal money from me. Nor would he have the guts to open a present he was specifically told not to. NOR would he have the guts to steal or punch a police officer!! And not for the consequences he'd receive upon being caught by the authorities. Oh no. For the consequences he'd receive upon trekking his juvenile *** back through my front door.

I find all too often parents turn to others in order to discapline and raise their kids. You know what, I was a young mother too. Didn't make a difference in how my son was raised. He knows that he is the most important, most special thing in my life and without him, I wouldn't want to live. However, he ALSO knows who's the boss in MY house and he knows how to act.

[Buttercup]

Originally Posted by beckysoup61

That were my thoughts on it as well, but I had another thought, what if the boy has some sort of anger management problem or other issue. The article doesn't state so, but still, to have the police department come in?!?

Oh I don't doubt that the mom has issues with this boy and needs help. I fault the police department most of all for arresting this boy because he opened a Christmas present. And I think it was mean of her to allow him to be arrested for it. She needs some counseling help with her son. He may hold this instance against her for the rest of his life.

[CDRaider]

My ex boyfriend put a spoiler on the back of his car. We were hanging out in his room when we heard grunting from outside. His mom was out there trying to pull the spoiler off.

She sued him for damaged property. The judge laughed at her and dismissed the case.