Should parents turn in their children for breaking the law?

2 years ago my then 16 year old daughter was out til all hours of the night with my cell phone back then when I had one. My husband called the cops. The came and got ahold of my daughter on the cell phone and told her she had better come home, She finally arrived back home. The officer was talking with her when he had noticed she was trying to erase numbers off the phone. The officer tried grabbing the phone from her when she kicked him. He threw her in the back seat of the patty wagon and off to Juvee she went. She is suppose to be getting off probation soon.

i think that they should turn their kids in if they break the law. . .if they do, it might scare them into not doing the crime again

I love your story and you did the right thing. Sounds like your son learned a valuable lesson and it stuck with him. These are the kinds of lessons that we learn from. Good for you for having the courage and determination and the intregety to do what is right at all times. I can imagaine how hard it must have been for you. I agree that a parent must do the right thing and the child will learn from it.

I think it would have to depend on what the crime was , as parents we don't ever want to see our children hurt but on the other hand we know that if we just let them get away with what they are doing that they will never change and things will be harder for them as they get older .

You bet!! I believe it teaches a child, no matter the age there are consequences to actions!! And the kids learn a resounding lesson that their parents are going to continue to teach right from wrong!! I remember I was maybe 6, and I took candy from the grocery store when I was there with my mom. She, of course, questioned me in the car, then marched me back inside the store and tell the manager what I had done and apologize. LAST TIME I ever stole ANYTHING!!!

Sometimes parents have to turn their children for breaking the law because they don't want their children to be in trouble.

When our son was 16, he got in with a bad couple of friends. He would sneak out of the house, and a few times would stay gone for a couple of days at a time. Anyway, we found out they were stealing radios out of cars. We turned him in and we all as a family had to go through some juvenile probation and counciling. It was tough, but worthwhile.

I think that parents do have an obligation to teach their children the right thing and by taking your son at the time to the sherifs office that taught him a big lesson especially when he had to face the people that he had stolen from. Oh yes I would say that it may depend on the age but some how we have to teach them and you did the right thing in the first place.

i think you did the right thing. i applaud you. that is great parenting. i think you did what it took to teach your child a leson. i'm sure he learned it. i remember when i was about 5 i stole a plastic ring from the store my mother took me back to the store when she found out and made me apologize to the people at the store. i never stole again.

I think if the parent knows the child is doing something that is against the law, they should turn them in. If not, the parent could be charged with aiding someone . I think it is important that a child know the consequences of his actions. (if you know me or read any of my discussions on parenting you will know I am big on consequences). When my son and his friend decided to take some things from a dept store I took my son back up to the store and made him tell the security officer exactly what he had done. The security officer told my son that he could have him thrown in jail because shoplifting is a crime, but instead he would hand him over to his mom, and let me deal with him. lol. I can tell you after that night he never stole anything from a store again.

i do. for small petty things, maybe not if the child is young, or documented immature (not just acting, but acutally documented as immature for their age, as my older son is), though my older son is prone to behaving badly and caring only for himself and we are currently trying to arrange a trip to juvenile hall so that he can see that kids can go to jail as he believes that kids can't go to jail so he doesn't have to worry about that at all. i would turn my children in. i'd make them own up for the crimes. what else can i do? if they are going to behave as criminals, then they should be treated as such. i will not stop loving my child, however, i will see that they understand that just because they are my child does not make them exempt from the law if only i know about the crime.

i am only 21 but when i was young my mother did the same thing and i believe that i am a better person for it. i have no criminal record bacause of it. i think you did the right thing coming from someone who it also happend to.

i have a 18 year old daughter that i knew was stealing from shops in our local town, and i dont mean just a 20p bar of chocolate i mean 200 pound stuff at a time after i asked her about it she admitted it and i went behind her back and reported her to the police, the response i got was " has she done it before" i told them yes and they said "ok we will arrested her" this was 2 and a half month ago and i am still waiting for the arrest to happen, what ever happened to the police helping.

yah u should fire your child if he / she violates the law. see the laws are for all people. if u dont teach them a lesson then they will surely again violate the law. this may lead to serious problem. so teach them to follow the rules coz rules & laws are meant for us & for betterement.

Wow this would be something that's easier said than done! I'm not a parent as of yet and I would imagine that it'd be very tough to turn in your own child, in fear that they would never forgive you or that they'd get too rough of a punishment. For right now, I would have to say that it would depend on the extent of the crime..if it was murder, than yes.

Oh my! I so wish you'd come and do some presentations to the parents in my town! I moved here 13 years ago and I am so amazed. I call what I see here the 'resuce phenomenon.' The parents want to rescue their kids, the teachers rescue students, the adults do not let the kids here have any consequences. Hence the types of things like the horse killings (see one of my posted discussions). I teach in the local college and the kids come to college with the impression that if they don't do well there will be some last minute 'extra credit assignment' that will magically pass them (like they were accustomed to in high school) or mommy and daddy will come and offer up some $$$ or give a threat of lawsuit and they'll magically pass. It is horrendous what I see. Kids do things like you described (petty theft and all, usually out of bordom which is no excuse) and never receive any consequences. Bless you for doing your duty as a parent...which is to teach and guide. Yes, it hurts sometimes, but that comes with the job. Your boy will grow up with the right set of values, and that afterall, should be a parent's goal! Kudos to you!

I think you used good judgement in your actions. It must have been hard but I believe that under the circumstances it made your son stronger and aware that he was accountable for his actions. This was shown in the second incident. However, in other cases I would sit down and talk it out before taking any action,hoping that he would take it upon himself to do the right thing and turn himself in. In most minor cases the police/judges are much more lenient in setting punishment. In felony cases I believe I would turn my child into the aw, hoping by doing so the sentencing would also be much more lenient.

Sounds like you've raised a wonderfully responsible boy.. congratulations! I'm not sure what I would do if I were in that position. My first thought was to say that I wouldn't turn in my children but I live in a small town - they'd probably be caught anyways.. lol.. and your example made me actually think about it.. apparently your son did learn from you turning him in.. here's hoping my children never put me in the position that I have to make this decision.

I think this is a toughie. Whilst you have to stand up for your kids, you also have to teach them the values you hold, and that may be a very tough lesson indeed. If it was me, and my child had committed an offense that I thought he or she should be punished for by more than me, then I would most certainly turn them in. You teach them nothing by taking away the consequences or their lesson in life. And by the sounds of it, you have raised your son to respect you, and also to do the right thing for himself if he commits any kind of offense. I must applaud you. Love and light.

I think that parents should always turn their kids in when the do a crime. If they don't then they will think they can get away with it. Although I do understand if they were older than 18 and committed a petty crime, why parents might choose not to. IF they were over 18 then it would stay with them whereas as a minor they leave their past transgressions behind.