DS given melatonin gummies as prank by “friends at sleepover

[Anonymous]

DS(15) went to a sleepover Saturday night and was given melatonin gummies as a prank by his “friends”.


It was about 14 boys camping in one of the boys backyard. They were watching movies on an outdoor screen and eating snacks. One of the boys fixed DS a plate of various snacks that included fruit snacks with melatonin gummies mixed in.

We don’t know exactly how much he ate but probably potentially as many as 15. He said towards the end of the movie he started feeling very drowsy and dizzy and ended up falling asleep. This was probably around 10:45pm. He woke up around 1:30am feeling sick and ended up vomiting, felt better and continued to sleep. He assumed he ate too much junk.

He said he had a very hard time waking up and when he did the other boys were laughing and asking “sleep well?” “We’re you tired last night?” and they had also written on his face and hidden a lot of his items.

One of the boys ended up disclosing that they had given him (and only him) melatonin gummies last night. Then apparently all the other boys laughed and said it was a prank.

DS texted me to pick him up and I got him a round 11:00am and he was still super groggy. I assumed they were up all night. He then got nauseous again and I had to pull over the car for him to vomit. I was slightly worried they had been drinking and when I asked he then he told me about the melatonin prank. I was super concerned and we ended up going to urgent care after calling poison control.

They ran a few test and did bloodwork and everything came back normal (no drugs or alcohol in system). They were not able to test for levels of melatonin in his blood at this urgent care center.

He got some Zofran, fluids and napped while being observed and he is now totally fine.

He is begging me not to confront the parents but I find this behavior very very concerning.

All these boys are on the same soccer team but DS is the odd man out and has been picked on by a few of the boys before. I’m not sure if every single boy was involved or not, but they all seemed to at least be aware from what DS told me.

I 100% believe DS as be does not lie. He’s a great kid but has some issues socializing and so often becomes the target of his peers.

What if they had given him something else? Something riskier than Melatonin gummies? What are these boys going to do in 3 years in college? They have time to mature and understand what they did was wrong but I believe their parents should know.

DS says this will make things much worse for him, which I also understand.

Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Sorry Mom that sounds awful. I'm not sure how'd handle but I'd be mad as hell

[Anonymous]

Oof. While I empathize with your DS I feel like you have to tell the parents what happened. What those boys did was dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Tell parents.
Find another soccer team.
Depending on parents reaction, share with current soccer team coach why you are leaving.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell parents.
Find another soccer team.
Depending on parents reaction, share with current soccer team coach why you are leaving.

+1

[Anonymous]

I would want to know if my son pranked another kid this way.

[Anonymous]

The parents should consider themselves grateful if you don't call the police.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Oof. While I empathize with your DS I feel like you have to tell the parents what happened. What those boys did was dangerous.

I think this is the right call but I know DS will be very angry with me. Half of these boys go to his school.

DS has a couple of close friends with similar interests. Robotics, programming, computers etc but he so desperately wants to be apart of the “cool kids.” I can deeply relate, as I wasted the first three years of HS pursuing friendships with people who did not value me as a person or friend. I try to help DS understand that but he’s hyper focused on befriending these boys. Some are sweet but I’ve seen many of them treat DS poorly. I don’t want to be the parent who over coddled her teenage boy so it’s hard to know when to intervene.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would want to know if my son pranked another kid this way.

+1 No question, this was dangerous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell parents.
Find another soccer team.
Depending on parents reaction, share with current soccer team coach why you are leaving.

+100
These are not friends. Their parents need to know. Make the calls tonight.

I’m glad your kid is okay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell parents.
Find another soccer team.
Depending on parents reaction, share with current soccer team coach why you are leaving.

This 100%
It’s not funny. I’d be livid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Tell parents.
Find another soccer team.
Depending on parents reaction, share with current soccer team coach why you are leaving.

+100
These are not friends. Their parents need to know. Make the calls tonight.

I’m glad your kid is okay.

Firmly agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Tell parents.
Find another soccer team.
Depending on parents reaction, share with current soccer team coach why you are leaving.

Agree with this. If there are no consequences, who knows what these boys will find humorous to drug others with in the future - cannabis, roofies. Even melatonin could have been serious for someone with preexisting medical conditions.
This is serious and the parents and coach needs to know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would want to know if my son pranked another kid this way.

+1 This was really dumb and dangerous and those parents need to know. DS will hopefully understand, it's just one those things where there's a clear answer. So sorry this happened to your DS!

[Anonymous]

He doesn’t want you to say anything, but his relationship with them is already ruined because he can’t hang out with them anymore. It’s not safe. Those knuckleheads weren’t smart enough to realize drugging him could endanger him. It’s not like he can attend another sleepover even if you don’t say anything. There’s no much to lose by notifying the parents.