Would You Call Police on Your Children?
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Would You Call Police on Your Children?
| Fri, 10-26-2012 - 3:21pm |
I came by this story today and thought I would share it here. A woman in Idaho turned in her son after she found $5,000 worth of stolen property in her home. He's since been arrested.
What would you do if you were in a similar situation? Would you turn in your child if they broke the law? Would it matter if it was the first time it had happened or not?
Mother turns in son after finding stolen property- http://www.ktvb.com/news/crime/Mother-turns-in-son-after-finding-stolen-property-175997591.html?can=mI
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This is the right thing to do from a moral standpoint. Sometimes the only way kids are going to learn is if they face consequences very early. Where I see this most often is in wealthy families where the parents don't have consequences for their kids.
Where I have trouble with this is if the stealing, drug-using, etc. are caused by untreated mental illness. People will not get the help they need in jail, and just punishing them for the crime won't really help them not re-offend if the underlying mental health problem is not addressed.
If you're going to call the cops on your kid, from a long-term perspective it's best to do it when the child is under eighteen so that the record is expunged when he turns 18 if possible. This is a valuable lesson, but also a way to earn a fresh start for adult life.
This situation is too tricky to make a blanket statement about, but I'm not adverse to allowing my child to experience natural consequences for his actions.