Anonymous
Post 04/11/2016 00:16     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote: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?


It's a ridiculous overreaction- the kids are now with relatives and the mother lost her job amd is charged with a crime. She made a bad decision that would likely have left no lasting harm. Now the entire family is screwed. Neighbor should have talked with the family- not called the cops.
I would knock in the door if I saw something like this-- then kept an eye out.


I'm dumbfounded by the "talk to the neighbor" comments. I get along well with the neighbors, but would be very reluctant to communicate directly with the neighbor here. She was clearly not rational in taking this action, and talking to irrationally angry (or batsh*t crazy) person likely to escalate the situation. Could have increased danger to kid (or created danger for me).

I'd have given it 5-10 minutes to resolve, then called professionals to deal with situation.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 23:17     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Child abuse, without a doubt.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 23:14     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote: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?


It's a ridiculous overreaction- the kids are now with relatives and the mother lost her job amd is charged with a crime. She made a bad decision that would likely have left no lasting harm. Now the entire family is screwed. Neighbor should have talked with the family- not called the cops.
I would knock in the door if I saw something like this-- then kept an eye out.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 16:28     Subject: Re:Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Mom had him at 21-years old; his sister at 19-years old.

I read the link in OP's post. Momma sounds like a nut job.

10:30pm is pretty late, btw.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 16:26     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Personally I think letting a baby CIO is worse than this. It should be a crime.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 16:18     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
We can guess but don't know what happened leading up to this. My normally well behaved 8 year old got really mad. He said he was running away and started walking down the driveway yelling in his boxers. We didn't chase him because we knew he'd come back in a minute. It was daytime and freezing out. It was over in 5 minutes and he apologized and said he was embarrassed for acting like a toddler. My point is it could have looked really bad if the neighbors saw my kid outside in his underware in the cold.

Maybe there is other stuff going on and that is why the neighbor called the police. Or maybe they overreacted. We don't know. We weren't there.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 12:55     Subject: Re:Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Okay--but I have a 10- year old boy myself and I would never lock him outside of the house. WTF!

PP here. I did state that I didn't necessarily agree with what the mom did. However, I live in a very safe neighborhood, with a fenced in yard, and gates that are locked. My 10 yr old DS is in bed by 9pm, so there would almost never be a situation where he'd be up at 10:30 and me arguing with him. BUT, if there was such a situation (like when we come home late from being out), and he were to argue with me about going to bed, back talking, giving me attitude, cursing at me, and so I put him in the backyard if he wanted to stay out late, doors locked, for 10min to teach him a lesson, I don't see how that is abuse.


That's weird to me. We had to 'go to our room', etc. but my parents never locked us out. Christ- my brother probably would have called their bluff and left the yard/house at that age...
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 12:54     Subject: Re:Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
How does she handle her students when they misbehave?
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 12:42     Subject: Re:Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Okay--but I have a 10- year old boy myself and I would never lock him outside of the house. WTF!

PP here. I did state that I didn't necessarily agree with what the mom did. However, I live in a very safe neighborhood, with a fenced in yard, and gates that are locked. My 10 yr old DS is in bed by 9pm, so there would almost never be a situation where he'd be up at 10:30 and me arguing with him. BUT, if there was such a situation (like when we come home late from being out), and he were to argue with me about going to bed, back talking, giving me attitude, cursing at me, and so I put him in the backyard if he wanted to stay out late, doors locked, for 10min to teach him a lesson, I don't see how that is abuse.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 12:27     Subject: Re:Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote:
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.


Okay--but I have a 10- year old boy myself and I would never lock him outside of the house. WTF!
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 00:26     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote:A 10 yr old is awake and standing outside at 10:30 at night? Yeah, there's a problem there.


+1. And the 12 year old answering the door late at night? Something is not right.

If the kids were abused by their bio parents and the teacher adopted them, she probably has been dealing with a lot of challenges and I feel for her. But this is not the way to address it. As for whether it merited an arrest, it is quite possible that there is more to this story so I'm going to reserve judgment on that.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 00:20     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Horrible that the police arrested this poor woman. Her life is ruined. That kid is going to be feel guilt his whole life now that mom can't ever get a job.


Or maybe his life will be changed because his mother is abusive behind closed doors and he was too afraid/didn't know who to turn to for help. Thankfully, this time somebody saw and instead of ignoring it they called the cops.


Uh, he was outside. That is the opposite of behind closed doors.


One could argue that he was since he was on the other side of a locked patio door.

But your being a pedantic asshole and you know exactly what I meant.


No, I don't. "Behind closed doors" generally means something that's happening in private. Clearly the mother was not hiding what was happening. I imagine that before she locked him out, she said something like, "You can come back in when you're ready to apologize/pick up your clothes/clean the spaghetti off the wall" or whatever it was that got them to this point. I think what she did is a far cry from abuse. To make a leap that she was abusing him behind closed doors is absurd.


Forgot to add "when you're ready to follow the rules" to the list of things I can imagine the mother might have said. I actually heard on the radio a few weeks ago the suggestion that locking a kid outside and telling them they can come back in when they are ready to follow the rules is effective. Unfortunately I heard that on a conservative Christian show, like Focus on the Family or some such. But in any event, it is a parenting strategy that is common enough to be suggested on the radio.
Anonymous
Post 04/10/2016 00:16     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Horrible that the police arrested this poor woman. Her life is ruined. That kid is going to be feel guilt his whole life now that mom can't ever get a job.


Or maybe his life will be changed because his mother is abusive behind closed doors and he was too afraid/didn't know who to turn to for help. Thankfully, this time somebody saw and instead of ignoring it they called the cops.


Uh, he was outside. That is the opposite of behind closed doors.


One could argue that he was since he was on the other side of a locked patio door.

But your being a pedantic asshole and you know exactly what I meant.


No, I don't. "Behind closed doors" generally means something that's happening in private. Clearly the mother was not hiding what was happening. I imagine that before she locked him out, she said something like, "You can come back in when you're ready to apologize/pick up your clothes/clean the spaghetti off the wall" or whatever it was that got them to this point. I think what she did is a far cry from abuse. To make a leap that she was abusing him behind closed doors is absurd.
Anonymous
Post 04/09/2016 23:29     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Horrible that the police arrested this poor woman. Her life is ruined. That kid is going to be feel guilt his whole life now that mom can't ever get a job.


Or maybe his life will be changed because his mother is abusive behind closed doors and he was too afraid/didn't know who to turn to for help. Thankfully, this time somebody saw and instead of ignoring it they called the cops.


Uh, he was outside. That is the opposite of behind closed doors.


One could argue that he was since he was on the other side of a locked patio door.

But your being a pedantic asshole and you know exactly what I meant.
Anonymous
Post 04/09/2016 20:48     Subject: Mom locks kid out on deck in 41 degree weather -- is this a crime?
A 10 yr old is awake and standing outside at 10:30 at night? Yeah, there's a problem there.