Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?

[Anonymous]

http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Police-Teacher-Locked-Son-Out-of-House-in-Cold-as-Punishment-375101541.html What do you think?

It appears that it was about 41 degrees at the time. The story doesn't indicate how long the child was out there. I can see it being a problem if it was for an extended time (i.e. maybe more than 20-30 min.), but is this really a "crime" if it was for 15 min. or less? It was later at night and I get that the kid wasn't happy about it.... but we're not talking about a 3 yr. old who can't process this or who could get hurt. It seems like overkill to me. People can hit their kids and it's just "disciplining the kid" -- but putting your kid out for some time out is a felony?

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I think its extremely poor judgement and especially inappropriate for a teacher. At 40 with little clothes on, yes its abusive. I do not see the point of locking him out of the house. Send him to his room and strip the room of the good stuff he enjoys. There are far better punishments. She probably reacted without thinking,, but it is a bit extreme.

[Anonymous]

Yes, I think that is a crime. If someone needed a timeout on the deck it should've been the mom. If she couldn't control him and put him out there for her and dds safety then she should e called the police. Exposing a child like that is a crime.

Sad all around.

[Anonymous]

I guess I don't really get it. Kids go outside in 41 degree weather all the time. Yes, it's cold, but it's not freezing. Again, I'm assuming it was for a shorter duration (less than 20 min.). What is the harm? Isn't the harm less than someone who spanks or slaps their kid?

Is there really any harm at all when kids on their own volition sometimes go out in cool/cold weather without coats? Just b/c he was crying doesn't make it "harmful" -- he might cry just as much if she took his electronics away.

I'm not hearing anything that is so egregious that it is a felony.

[Anonymous]

Nope, not a crime. The kid was probably being a brat and the mom put him in timeout.

Of course Nosey Nelly the Neighbor called the cops so that she could do the Sanctimommy brag.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I guess I don't really get it. Kids go outside in 41 degree weather all the time. Yes, it's cold, but it's not freezing. Again, I'm assuming it was for a shorter duration (less than 20 min.). What is the harm? Isn't the harm less than someone who spanks or slaps their kid?

Is there really any harm at all when kids on their own volition sometimes go out in cool/cold weather without coats? Just b/c he was crying doesn't make it "harmful" -- he might cry just as much if she took his electronics away.

I'm not hearing anything that is so egregious that it is a felony.

Normally, I would agree, but the article indicated the boy was shivering with a blanket wrapped around him when the police arrived, which tells me he was out there long enough to get really cold. Obviously, she was trying to make him suffer physically. I have spanked my ES age kids a couple of times, so I'm not opposed to physical punishment, but being out in the cold for a time without a jacket long enough to be shivering is prolonged physical pain.

But, I think taking the kids away for this is over the top. Taking the kids away from their mom, and them seeing their mom hauled off by the cops, now probably can't get a job teaching, is probably going to hurt the kids a hell of a lot more than what the mom did.

We've become a nanny state.

[Anonymous]

Psycho. 3-year old boys can't test any sane person.

She should have locked herself in her bedroom until she could gain perspective.

Outside on a cold deck is incredibly poor judgement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Psycho. 3-year old boys can't test any sane person.

She should have locked herself in her bedroom until she could gain perspective.

Outside on a cold deck is incredibly poor judgement.

Did you read the article at all? The boy is 10, not 3. Please read before giving your knee jerk reaction, though I don't necessarily agree with what the mom did.

[Anonymous]

Summary of link: Mom is 31 and teaches 3rd grade. Kid she locked out was 10. A neighbor saw the kid wrapped in a blanket and shivering outside on the deck at 10:30 at night crying By the time the police arrived the boy was inside and answered the door along with 12 year old sister.

Teacher is now suspended from her job. Charging her has now completely ruined this family. Mom loses job, kids in care of relatives. Couldn't the police have told her not to do it again?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Psycho. 3-year old boys can't test any sane person.

She should have locked herself in her bedroom until she could gain perspective.

Outside on a cold deck is incredibly poor judgement.

The boy was 10, not 3. I also think it's relevant that it was 10:30 at night, and he had no coat on. I'm not a nosy Nelly, but I too might call the police if I saw a 10yo locked out of his house, no coat, that late at night. Though I'd more likely assume something was wrong with the mother, not that she did it herself.

[Anonymous]

It's abuse even if the weather was not a factor. It was late at night, and dark outside. Throwing your child outside under any condition is abuse. The child is going to be scared. What if he decides to jump off deck? what if he gets attacked by a raccoon, or a bad guy? Trauma can by inflicted by the fear alone. It is pure abuse. Children can be given time out but it has to be under very safe conditions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Summary of link: Mom is 31 and teaches 3rd grade. Kid she locked out was 10. A neighbor saw the kid wrapped in a blanket and shivering outside on the deck at 10:30 at night crying By the time the police arrived the boy was inside and answered the door along with 12 year old sister.

Teacher is now suspended from her job. Charging her has now completely ruined this family. Mom loses job, kids in care of relatives. Couldn't the police have told her not to do it again?

Kid did not have the blanket when he was on the deck. He was out without a coat. When the police got to the house, the boy was inside wrapped in a blanket. Also feels relevant that the 12yo sister answered the door. Something seems off that the mother has her 12yo opening the door to the police at that late hour.

[Anonymous]

About 10:30 p.m. Thursday night, a neighbor saw a 10-year-old boy without a coat alone on the back deck of a townhouse in the Alexandria section of the county. The temperature was in the 40s.
“The 10-year-old male that was on the rear deck of the house appeared to be scared, he was crying and he was knocking on the door of the residence,” said Roger Henriquez, of Fairfax County Police.
When officers knocked on the door, a 12-year-old girl answered with her brother by her side, wrapped in a blanket and shivering. Inside, police found their mother, Julia Brandt, 31. They questioned her and filed felony child neglect charges, police said.

Yes that was abusive. I hope she faces serious consequences.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Summary of link: Mom is 31 and teaches 3rd grade. Kid she locked out was 10. A neighbor saw the kid wrapped in a blanket and shivering outside on the deck at 10:30 at night crying By the time the police arrived the boy was inside and answered the door along with 12 year old sister.

Teacher is now suspended from her job. Charging her has now completely ruined this family. Mom loses job, kids in care of relatives. Couldn't the police have told her not to do it again?

Kid did not have the blanket when he was on the deck. He was out without a coat. When the police got to the house, the boy was inside wrapped in a blanket. Also feels relevant that the 12yo sister answered the door. Something seems off that the mother has her 12yo opening the door to the police at that late hour.

Devastated Mom realized someone had called the cops on her and the daughter simply answered the door instead.

[Anonymous]

I'm sorry for the family involved, but I don't think it was a wrong decision for a neighbor to call the police about a 10yo cold and crying outside at 1030pm. Seriously, what kind of world do you PPs live in where this is either normal or concern about it is overstepping privacy? I have boys this age, and while they can make me crazy, sticking one out in the cold late at night is not in the same universe as a reasonable or effective punishment... it's abuse.

It's a shame the mother's professional life is jeopardized but I don't want anyone like that teaching my kids, until/unless she gets some psychological help.