A boy is caught bullying, and his father calls the police to teach him a lesson. Is it total overkill or practical parenting?
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As my sons will attest, I’m a pretty mild-mannered father, though even I’ve reached the point where I’ve told one or the other, in a not so quiet voice, that we might just have to head over to our local police station for a talk. But I’ve never actually pulled the trigger on this threat, nor do I want to. It feels to me like the nuclear option, an act I can’t take back that might leave permanent scars along with a lasting impression.
The father in this video actually called the police to his house and had them pretend to arrest his son—to scare some sense into him after he was caught bullying. It’s a pretty frightening scene, but maybe it’s what this boy needed. Understanding that the full context surrounding the event isn’t available here, what’s your opinion on whether this dad should have made the call?
Photo—FailArmy
I love it. In a society where boys fill the juvenile justice system, more kids need to know what they are looking at if their behavior continues. GMP has done countless articles on bullying so as to make it clear how that bullying affects the victim. I just read an article about a male teen who killed himself because someone had posted a clip of him masturbating in a school rest room and many students mocked him mercilessly. This young man in this clip is not a victim, he is a perpetrator who has a dad with enough love, allowed… Read more »
Didn’t Hitchcock’s dad do that to him as a child? His father had police throw him as a child into an empty jail cell for some childhood offense and he was forever haunted by that….his movies are about the innocent man being accused of some crime…
I think the father hit the nail on the head. His declaration that “this is how it will be when we can’t help you one day” resonated with me and I am sure it resonated with this child. This isn’t bullying, and it really has nothing to do with “Scared Straight”. The article clearly says that the officers were pretending to arrest his son, not that they took him to jail. We don’t know what measures the parents employed prior to bringing the police into the matter. They could have been at their wits end. I think that it is… Read more »
Kids need a sense of community, not to be under a carousel of thumbs. The parent here couldn’t avoid a bullying tactic, so no wonder why this kid was bullying.
The commonly referenced, ‘Scared Straight’ started in the 70’s, still goes on, though is proven that it doesn’t work, according to CJJ, which tracks it, it even increases offences. Even the government admits it is a failure, and won’t fund it, and also has cited concerns that parts of it–confining a child with adult prisoners–could violate Federal law.
Sometimes, a nice scare tactic is the perfect antidote to foolishness like that. Since parents are practically forbidden to physically discipline their children, they’ve had to get creative with it.