— A crazy story i read on Fox News…
FOXNews.com’s Michael De Dora, Jr. contributed to this report.
Mother Has 12-Year-Old Son Arrested for Opening Christmas Gift Early
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
A 12-year-old South Carolina boy got an unexpected stocking stuffer — a pair of handcuffs — after he snuck into his Christmas gifts a few weeks early.
After a mother discovered her son had unwrapped a Nintendo Game Boy Advance that was meant for him as a present from his grandmother, she called the Rock Hill Police and had the young man arrested for petty larceny, according to the police report filed this week.
“He took it without permission. He wanted it. He just took it,” the boy’s 63-year-old great-grandmother told the Rock Hill Herald.
• Click here to read the original story at Rock Hill Herald’s Web site.
• Click here to read the Rock Hill Police Department report.
The great-grandmother said in the filed complaint that she wrapped the gift and placed it under the tree at her house — then specifically told the boy not to open it.
But when she checked under the tree Sunday, she found the box unwrapped and opened. The great-grandmother relayed the news to the mother, who is 27-years-old.
When the boy claimed he didn’t know where the present was, the mother threatened to call the cops. On that threat, the boy went to his bedroom and grabbed the $85 Game Boy, according to the report.
But mom still called the police.
And the boy “showed no remorse” when the police came, mother said.
The boy was charged as a juvenile and released the same day, said police spokesman Lt. Jerry Waldrop. He was never in jail.
“We wouldn’t hold a 12-year-old,” he told the Rock Hill Herald.
On Monday night, the mother said she didn’t know what else to do but call the police in hopes it would be a wake-up call for her son.
The mother told police that the boy has a history of bad behavior, including shoplifting from stores and stealing money from her. The mother said he even punched a police officer last month and was arrested for disorderly conduct for it.
“I’m trying to get him some kind of help,” she told the Rock Hill Herald.
hmmmm
Kid is 12 years old. Mom is 27.
I rest my case.
— Ben
Immaterial
I don’t think that’s nearly as important as why a boy who’s been acting delinquent is getting a video game system for Christmas. Isn’t a lump of coal the appropriate gift in this situation?
And I know parents of ALL ages that don’t see why giving a child what they want regardless if they behavior warrants it might be bad for behavioral purposes.
Throwing your hands up and saying “I don’t know what to do” and calling the police isn’t the way. It’s not THEIR job to discipline your kid. Buying the video system in the first place isn’t the way. “Well, you’ve been bad, but here’s what you wanted anyway. Be good now!” Huh?
Being punished for misdeeds and being deprived of toys/games/privileges, well, there’s a start. Radical idea I’m throwing out here, I know, but holding your child accountable for their actions just might be a good parental tool.
And that isn’t a teen mom phenomenon. Just look at Dudley Dursley.
My $.02 Weed
Agreed
In my opinion, bad parenting is the biggest issue facing this country. Today’s stupid parents are raising the next generation of boorish, stupid, selfish, ignorant adults.
— Ben