Lost it last night and brought in the police!

[Anonymous]

Last night i was cooking dinner at 5:45 p.m. and suddenly realized DS 11 yr old 6th grader was not home - was 1.5 hrs late. I called neighbors/friends -no one had seen him. I called the afterschool club leader - he said he was walking home that day. We had talked in the morning about him walking home - but he was now 1.5 hrs late. I turned off the stove, jumped in the car and drove in the direction of the school. Along the way, i saw the cop who always stakes out the school zone/25 mph speed trap. I pulled over and started sobbing. I lost it. he escorted me to the school - no DS. He called in 'back up' and asked for a description and a "where would he go?" Only then did i think of the public library - drove there (with police escort!) and there he was! GRRRRRRR i made him apologize/thank officers and call everyone I had called and tell them he was at the library and had not contacted me.

he doesn't have his phone right now b/c he's been so naughty lately we took it away! He get's lackadaisical with his, uh, manners and we have to confiscate the electronics every so often. But he was using the computer at the school and could have sent me a msg or used their phone!

Later i was so embarrassed by summoning police presence. I hope i shook him up but i felt badly that i had not thought of the library sooner. amen.

[Anonymous]

Do not be embarrassed. Officers deal with those situations all the time. They are happy when there is not a tragic ending.

[Anonymous]

I think you did the right thing. Nothing wrong with this. I would have grabbed the school resource officer too. That's what he's there for.

[Anonymous]

I would have done the exact same thing. I'm sure it was a very scary feeling. So glad he is safe. Breathe.

[Anonymous]

Busted for going to the library! Op, you're doing ok.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:... But he was using the computer at the *school* and could have sent me a msg or used their phone!
....

i meant at the library.

Thank you for the reassuring words. hopefully he's sufficiently impressed by the drama he caused and will be more communicative next time.

Makes me wonder about all the times i was late and my mom never called in the police! maybe it was different 40 years ago...

[Anonymous]

Don't take his phone away for bad manners, unless those violations were phone-related.

[Anonymous]

If you know your kid is walking home from school by himself, let him have his phone until he's home safe and THEN take it away again. Geesh. Sometimes 11 year olds are just forgetful.

[Anonymous]

Just a bit of advice from a parent with slightly older kids - this is why you don't take your kid's phone away when they are actually out in public and may need to call you.

The Best Rules for Kids and Mobile Phones Are:

- If phone is abused (too much texting or playing games or using at the wrong times) have kid "dock it" when s/he gets home every day and only get it back when s/he leaves the house.
-Don't take away the mobile phone for non-phone related crimes/offenses. Punishment should be related to behavior/offense anyway, its a much more effective strategy to curb bad behavior.
-Kid has to have phone with him/her at all times when away from home and are expected to keep it properly charged and to use it to communicate whereabouts with parents
-Phone has a "find me" feature so parent can easily see where the phone (and therefore the kid) is.

[Anonymous]

don't take away the phone. Just turn off data and texting. For my phone plan, I can do this on the internet.

[Anonymous]

Definitely discipline him but teach him about Stranger Danger etc.

[Anonymous]

Somehow i managed to communicate my whereabouts/ask permission to go to library before mobile phones. kid's gotta make do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do not be embarrassed. Officers deal with those situations all the time. They are happy when there is not a tragic ending.

This. As someone who works in law enforcement - they are thrilled to find a kid who is just being a pain in the ass.

[Anonymous]

You did exactly what I would have done!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Definitely discipline him but teach him about Stranger Danger etc.

Jesus, enough with this "stranger danger" bullshit.

Just tell him next time, when he happens to be someplace without a phone (it does happen), to ask a librarian to let him use the library phone to call his parents.