Don't know if I should or , but http://www.bostonherald.com/news/re...s_the_cops_on_teen_gamer/srvc=home&position=5 What it comes down to is this woman calls the cops to get them to get her son to stop playing his video game. But some questions come up. 1. If she unplugged the system as it says- (An argument ensued as Mejia unplugged her son’s PlayStation. Then, this mad-as-hell mother dialed 911. Police responded and managed to talk the boy into shutting off the game and going to sleep )- so how was he still able to play? 2. Is this becoming a real problem. (addiction for this generation?) I mean what happened to the good 'ol days when kids actually played with one another instead of sitting in front of the ''boob tube'' for hours at a time?
The only problem I see here is shitty parenting. The little punk ass kid is probably a product of a lack of it.
^ What Robert Maxwell said. Take the console away if it's becoming a problem. When I got in trouble for staying up too late on the internet as a teen, my parents didn't try to bargain with me. They confiscated my cords and informed me they would be returned after I got a grip. No amount of pleading or whining changed the fact. I think I went without it for a month. I was mad as hell then, but as an adult, I'm glad there was discipline in my childhood. I'm so tired of seeing children who rule their parents instead of the other way around.
^ditto. My son was spending too much time on the computer and not doing his homework, so I took the laptop away for 2 weeks, until we could come to a time agreement. He cried, he got mad, he pleaded but finally he gave in
This generation? I can remember staying up all night 20 years ago playing video games. Not on school nights though. Not usually anyway. I had lots of friends, no trouble spending time outside either. If something like this is becoming a problem for a kid, it's pretty simply to take away their games. If they aren't taken away, that's the parent's fault. He was playing his games in the middle of the night, ergo she didn't do that. If the kid can't handle it, they're not used to discipline and that's the parent's fault too. WHO THE HELL CALLS THE COPS ON THEIR OWN KIDS? It's one thing if they're a bit older and perhaps violent or exhibiting criminal behaviour, but staying up late? She should get a ticket for misuse of police resources or something. And why is it always Grand Theft Auto? Sometimes I think they don't know what game the kid was playing and they just throw in the name to get people's attention.
Same old sob story. People will come and whine that she's most likely a "poor single mother without options" because "dad was a bum and ran away".
By the mom a case of these: Time Scout monitors Otherwise: Parent the kid! Don't call the cops case jr's being a brat.
I'e never took the whole "poor single mother" thing as a get out of jail free card (no pun intended) for everything that their kids pull. Yes, yes, it is harder on the single parent, but that doesn't mean you get to sit back and blame "the system" or blame your "Cicumstancs" 24/7 for everything the kids get into.
Hope the cops gave her a lecture that 911 is for emergencys only. In fact the cops should of told her it wasn't an emergency and unless she called back on the station number they weren't coming out. How fucking stupid are these people.
No indeed! And what a generalization to make. I am a single mother, and do my best by my son, considering I have to be both mother and father to him.
Well, if she made it clear when she called that it wasn't an emergency and she was simply trying to scare her son into obeying, I could see the cops agreeing to it if they had nothing more pressing to do. So long as all concerned are aware of what's what I don't think that approach is a problem occasionally. Let's face it, the badge and the uniform can have quite an effect.
It wasn't said here, but I did see it in a comment section on USA Today. So, I pretty much headed that one off because any time there's an article about some exasperated mother people automatically pull the "poor single mother card".
She was probably a poor single mother who had no options because the dad was a bum and ran away. Hoser, exceeding expectations.
Yeah...if I ever have children, I'm going to make sure they can only go on the Internet when I say they can be on the Internet, even if that means I have to get a fingerprint-swiper or something to make sure I can control access. Either that or something like that Time Scout...that looks like a good idea too, but it also seems like it could be easy to disable. And I would have no problem with my kids knowing that their Internet access and so on is at my discretion. I would be the PARENT, after all.
Uh.... no?! This isn't a "scared straight" program keeping kids out of jail, the woman called the cops because her kid wouldn't go to bed because he was playing video games. If you would call the cops for this reason I'd call you a bad parent. Well intentioned, perhaps, but incompetent.
It really depends on a bunch of circumstances. If it's just a random woman saying, "Hey, would you mind scaring my kid for me," then I'll agree it's iffy. If it's a mother asking her cop friend, "Hey, could you round up a couple of buddies and put my kid in his place," that's something else. The article doesn't go into that kind of detail, but I'm always a bit suspicious of reporter assumptions in these kinds of things.
I'm glad I never really had to deal with this kind of problem. My two oldest grew up before the era of inexpensive computers, fast internet access and game consoles. I've only had this issue with my youngest and it wasn't too bad to deal with. And now he's pretty much outgrown the habit (at 17).