Man calls cops on 6-year-old son

[IDrinkaRum]

because son refuses to go to school

Father wanted the kid to be scared into going to school.

WTF is wrong with these parents? Don't they have the gumption to discipline their kids without having to involve the police? If I had refused to go to school at 6-years-old, I know my father wouldn't have called the police, he'd have smacked my butt, physically threw me into the car, and drove me down to the school himself, marching me into class personally. Heck, I've been known to grab my daughter's hand and march her to her school bus personally on days when she doesn't want to cooperate. All the while I'm barking "March! March!"

Police chiefs quoted in the article say this is a common occurance! They get about 25 such calls annually. OMG. I say Parent FAIL on this part.

Later in the article, the writer does mention that parents have been known to call the cops when the kid comes home talking of drugs. That I understand. If the parents don't have all the information needed to give the kid the right answers, counseling by cops or at least getting the phone number of programs that can help give answers.

I swear, the day I call the cops to discipline my daughter is the day I'm throwing in the towel as a parent.

[Skelly]

Good way to make your child fear and hate the police. Way to go there, duh-ddy.

[jackfaire]

Wow so basically making the rest of us have to raise your kid while you just enjoy the good parts of being a parent.

If that's your idea of parenting please consider adoption if you find yourselves expecting.

[blas87]

Wow, that's a pretty early start to giving up parenting and letting the justice system raise your kids.

Way to be, Dad of the Year!

[crashhelmet]

Who's to say the school wouldn't call CPS because they thought he was abusing the child. Being a parent and disciplining a child is a vicious Catch 22. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

CH

[jackfaire]

Who's to say the school wouldn't call CPS because they thought he was abusing the child. Being a parent and disciplining a child is a vicious Catch 22. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.

CH

Bullshit. That is a false argument used by parents to excuse their never ever disciplining their own kids. Yes false reports do happen but not because oh dear god you gave your kid a spanking.

[crashhelmet]

Tell that to the parent arrested for spanking his son in a shopping mall. Or the others for doing it in public, like at grocery stores and such.

Tell that to my neighbors who lost their kids for 3 days while CPS investigated abuse claims. Their son was hit with a toy bat after arguing with friends about their game, but his teacher and the school insisted it was his parents.

There are countless debates about the fine line between discipline and abuse. Schools teach our kids that their parents can't abuse them. Some kids take that as it means their parents can't discipline them. Hell, one teenager tried to hire a hitman to kill his parents for taking away his PS3

CH

[jackfaire]

Tell that to the parent arrested for spanking his son in a shopping mall. Or the others for doing it in public, like at grocery stores and such.
CH

Won his case because spanking isn't abuse.

The parents who use that argument, at least the ones I have spoken to, do so because they claim that spanking is legally considered abuse.

It is not. Excessive spanking that leaves bruising does.

[IDrinkaRum]

I have spanked Child Rum. When she's climbing someting that she shouldn't and she's in danger of falling and hurting herself. I've even smack her hand away from the hot stove top because she's too eager to help me cook.

However, I have never thought of actually calling the cops on my daughter because she's not wanting to get on her bus or she runs from me in the grocery store (she likes to look at diapers) or when she's climbing about to fall.

Yes, I've been known to call my mom when she's not listening to me, but that's another story altogether. (Child Rum listens to Nana Rum more than me - go figure).

Otherwise, I try to talk to her about what she's done wrong. It's hard because Child Rum, with her Autism, doesn't look you in the eyes, doesn't appear to be listening, is too busy worrying about what next is going to happen rather than dwell on what she did wrong.

What this father did was ... GAh ... disgusting. Abysmal. Are parents so afraid of not being their children's "friends" that they actually have to call an outside source to discipline their kids?

[HYHYBT]

Won his case because spanking isn't abuse.

That's well and good, as far as it goes. But winning your case, once you finally get to court, doesn't undo the incredible nuisance and embarrassment of being arrested, the expenses involved, often having your child removed from the home in the meantime, etc.

[jackfaire]

That's well and good, as far as it goes. But winning your case, once you finally get to court, doesn't undo the incredible nuisance and embarrassment of being arrested, the expenses involved, often having your child removed from the home in the meantime, etc.

And how often does it happen. Can we point at more than a few cases where it happens?

If we can't then it's the same as arguing that we ban Beavis and Butthead because one kid in my town burned down his garage and got the idea from that show.

[Nyoibo]

And how often does it happen. Can we point at more than a few cases where it happens?

It'd be hard given I'd hazard a guess that there's not stats kept on it, but I'd say if you dig enough you'd find a fair few.

[blas87]

If this man continues to keep calling the cops on his son for stuff like this, and forcing the justice system to raise his kids, one day he will end up with a 25 year old son on probation/parole, with a criminal record the length of a Hemmingway novel.

Oh, and before anyone says anything, when I say "the justice system raising your kids" I do NOT mean foster care or CPS. I am referring to people like my bf's mother who eventually gave up on being a parent to him and his brother, and just let the police and the courts deal with them.

She gave up long before they had DUIs and other things on their record. As early as their adolesence, she would call the cops on them if they left the house without her permission and would try to phone in Missing Person Reports (even though it has to be 24-48 hours).....as they got older, she just quit being a parent completely and just let the cops deal with them.

In her mind, I'm sure she felt it was the right thing to do....and it made less work for her.....but what she did was make more work for the police, and get an opinion in both of their heads that the cops are stupid pigs....no WONDER those two hate the police and have no respect towards authority of ANY kind....

If you're a good parent, your kid should fear your punishment worse than what a cop can do. You're a worthless excuse for a parent if you give up and just let your kids become part of the system and grow up to be always in legal trouble because you didn't want to be a parent.

If I had a kid and they were that out of control, I'd put them in military school or some other place where they would learn responsibility, respect, discipline, and order. It's a hell of a lot better than just giving up and letting them go off the deep end.

[jackfaire]

If you're a good parent, your kid should fear your punishment worse than what a cop can do. .

I shoplifted once as a kid they threatened to call the cops on me unless I gave them my parents phone number. I told them I preferred the cops. My parents terrified me.

[tropicsgoddess]

Daddy Dearest went too far with calling the cops for something trivial that he should've done himself!