5th grader turns in his parents

aerial

Elementary student brings pot to school to turn in his parents
Posted: Oct 15, 2010 12:04 PM EDT
Updated: Oct 18, 2010 4:35 PM EDT

MATTHEWS, NC (WBTV) - Two parents are facing drug charges after their child took their drugs to school and told a school officer his parents were breaking the law.

WBTV is not releasing the names of the parents or the name of the school to protect the child's identity.



The 11-year-old student is in 5th grade at a an elementary school in Matthews. Police say he brought his parents' marijuana cigarettes to school when he reported them.

Matthews Police say he reported his parents after a lesson about marijuana was delivered by a police officer who is part of the D.A.R.E. program, which teaches kids about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, and tobacco.

"Even if it's happening in their own home with their own parents, they understand that's a dangerous situation because of what we're teaching them," said Matthews Officer Stason Tyrrell. That's what they're told to do, to make us aware."

Tyrrell says the town's D.A.R.E. officer spends time at each of the three elementary schools in Matthews teaching kids to make the right choice when it comes to drugs.

Police arrested the child's 40-year-old father and 38-year-old mother on Thursday.

Both were charged with two misdemeanor counts each of marijuana possession and possession of drug paraphernalia.

They were not jailed and were released on a written promise to appear in court.

"I don't give drugs to my kids," the father told us when we went to his house.

When we asked him how his kid got ahold of his drugs, he replied, "That's no one's business."

Police say both the 11-year old and a sibling have been removed from the parents' house by social services. Police say they are staying with relatives.

Copyright 2010 WBTV. All rights reserved.


http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13330034#

chadwick

what a shitty deal
this country is screwed up
the kid should have taken his parents' wine and cigarettes to the cops too

very chicken shit
very wrong

this is one twisted up society/country
these DARE officers should be ashamed of themselves

Digital Twilight

When I read the title It reminded my of 1984 (The novel)

Cosmo

There goes that kid's allowance... forever.

TriumphantAngel

is there more to this story than is reported here?

social services have removed this kid and his sibling from their parents custody because they smoked pot, the kid found it and took it to school? for serious?

chadwick

TriumphantAngel wrote:

is there more to this story than is reported here?

social services have removed this kid and his sibling from their parents custody because they smoked pot, the kid found it and took it to school? for serious?

welcome to the united states of america
home of the free

catefrances

as a parent of an 11 year old i find this story both funny and mildly disturbing.

as TA said.. is there more to this story?... cause i can tell you even with my 11 year old knowing weed is illegal she wouldnt turn me in. but then again im way better at hiding stuff than she is at finding it. plus she hates her teacher.

BinauralJam

There's a Good Young Republican.

pjfan31

Am I the only one who is thinking good on the kid? I mean, sure I wouldn't turn my parents in, nor my friends. I have an anti-drug policy myself which I don't preach on anyone, nor am I attempting to do so here (as some of my best mates do drugs, they respect me for not, I accept them for doings so).

But I think that the fact this kid is showing strength at an impressionable age is good. I can only hope that if I have children and my wish for my two nephews is that they show strength and can resist temptation.

I expect to cop some criticism. And yes Docs or whoever it is over there need to be investigating the home life.

LikeAnOcean

That kid would so be up for adoption.. or homeless when he turns 18.

Not that I smoke, I just think it should be legal.

catefrances

pjfan31 wrote:

Am I the only one who is thinking good on the kid? I mean, sure I wouldn't turn my parents in, nor my friends. I have an anti-drug policy myself which I don't preach on anyone, nor am I attempting to do so here (as some of my best mates do drugs, they respect me for not, I accept them for doings so).

But I think that the fact this kid is showing strength at an impressionable age is good. I can only hope that if I have children and my wish for my two nephews is that they show strength and can resist temptation.

I expect to cop some criticism. And yes Docs or whoever it is over there need to be investigating the home life.

its all very well congratulating the kid on having strength, but did the child do it out of spite? thats what i want to know.

Cosmo

pjfan31 wrote:

Am I the only one who is thinking good on the kid? I mean, sure I wouldn't turn my parents in, nor my friends. I have an anti-drug policy myself which I don't preach on anyone, nor am I attempting to do so here (as some of my best mates do drugs, they respect me for not, I accept them for doings so).

But I think that the fact this kid is showing strength at an impressionable age is good. I can only hope that if I have children and my wish for my two nephews is that they show strength and can resist temptation.

I expect to cop some criticism. And yes Docs or whoever it is over there need to be investigating the home life.

...
No.. not really.
The poor kid was trapped in an ethical delima... his parents were breaking the law (since pot is still illegal) and he knew it. He was following the lawful thing to do.
Does the kid ignore the fact that his own parent's are breaking the law... or does he turn them in?
...
We don't know specifics... if the parents smoked pot openly in front of the kid... or did they try to shield him from their use? Was there an adversarial relationship between parents and child? We don't know.
My guess... open communication was not a big thing in that household.

thefixer9

Cosmo wrote:

There goes that kid's allowance... forever.

hahaha got that right!!!

Gary Carter

BinauralJam wrote:

There's a Good Young Republican.

LMFAO

Godfather.

it is what it is and it's a shame that the kid even found himself in a position to rat out his folks,I blame his parents for not being responsible enough to keep their use under wraps,they knew what could happen it's not like this is the first time something like this has happened.

Godfather.

chadwick

BinauralJam wrote:

There's a Good Young Republican.

isn't that the truth
this kid reminds me of anderson cooper or bill oreilly

DeLukin

The kid did the right thing. The law is the law. I'm sick of hearing how there should be exceptions when it comes to pot. There shouldn't be. It's a black and white issue. They broke the law, he turned them in, they got into trouble for it. I love how people say that everone else is wrong except the parents, who broke the law in the first place. If you're a parent and use illegal drugs, you aren't a very good parent IMO. Flame away if you must, but you're in the minority if you believe otherwise.

Jason P

Cosmo wrote:

...
No.. not really.
The poor kid was trapped in an ethical delima... his parents were breaking the law (since pot is still illegal) and he knew it. He was following the lawful thing to do.
Does the kid ignore the fact that his own parent's are breaking the law... or does he turn them in?
...
We don't know specifics... if the parents smoked pot openly in front of the kid... or did they try to shield him from their use? Was there an adversarial relationship between parents and child? We don't know.
My guess... open communication was not a big thing in that household.

My judgement on this case would require just a quick snapshot of the living room of the house they lived in . . .. I think I could determine in seconds if the parents were responsible and a victim of circumstance or if they were irresponsible and the kid is better off with relatives until they get their crap together. Of course, that is not how an actual judgement should be based on alone, but it will do for the purpose of this story.

chadwick

DeLukin wrote:

The kid did the right thing. The law is the law. I'm sick of hearing how there should be exceptions when it comes to pot. There shouldn't be. It's a black and white issue. They broke the law, he turned them in, they got into trouble for it. I love how people say that everone else is wrong except the parents, who broke the law in the first place. If you're a parent and use illegal drugs, you aren't a very good parent IMO. Flame away if you must, but you're in the minority if you believe otherwise.

you are a funny lady

Eliot Rosewater

DeLukin wrote:

The kid did the right thing. The law is the law. I'm sick of hearing how there should be exceptions when it comes to pot. There shouldn't be. It's a black and white issue. They broke the law, he turned them in, they got into trouble for it. I love how people say that everone else is wrong except the parents, who broke the law in the first place. If you're a parent and use illegal drugs, you aren't a very good parent IMO. Flame away if you must, but you're in the minority if you believe otherwise.

I guess I have to agree with you for the most part. The law is the law and we all (should) know the consequences of breaking the law. It's our risk to take, and with kids involved we really should limit that risk or not take it at all. But I believe the law is wrong, unjust, and needs to be changed.

It's like that Calvin Johnson TD that they ruled incomplete a few weeks ago. According to the rules, the refs made the correct call. But EVERYONE agrees that the rule is totally fucked up.

Jeanwah

catefrances wrote:

its all very well congratulating the kid on having strength, but did the child do it out of spite? thats what i want to know.

Yeah, me too. The kid obviously knew full well what he was doing to his parents.

Drowned Out

Jeanwah wrote:

catefrances wrote:

its all very well congratulating the kid on having strength, but did the child do it out of spite? thats what i want to know.

Yeah, me too. The kid obviously knew full well what he was doing to his parents.

Did he tho? He was in the middle of a DARE program...
Even if he did do it out of spite, he probably doesn't realize just HOW serious it is...I'm betting that unless he is abused or has legit, desperate reasons to WANT out of his house, he will seriously regret this later in life, if he doesn't already.

DeLukin wrote:

The kid did the right thing. The law is the law. I'm sick of hearing how there should be exceptions when it comes to pot. There shouldn't be. It's a black and white issue. They broke the law, he turned them in, they got into trouble for it. I love how people say that everone else is wrong except the parents, who broke the law in the first place. If you're a parent and use illegal drugs, you aren't a very good parent IMO. Flame away if you must, but you're in the minority if you believe otherwise.

If the law is the law, I guess we might as well just stick with what's on the books right now, and give up any hope of evolution.
I'd also like to say that anyone who can pass blanket judgement on tens of millions of people in one fell swoop, based on weed use, would not make a very good parent either.

Eliot Rosewater

There are still too many things about this story that we don't know. But the kid should have never been in the position to even consider whether or not he should turn in his parents for illegal drug use. It's a sad situation but the parents are 100% to blame. If they can't outsmart an eleven year old where do they expect to end up in life anyway? If smoking was that big of a deal to them to risk losing their kids they should have at least been able to outwit a fifth grader to keep their kids in the dark about it.

pandora

For the boys sake, I hope it was a cry for help on the part himself and his siblings.
That they were, in truth, endangered by irresponsible parents.
Otherwise he will regret what he has done even if misguided and innocent.

Jason P

Drowned Out wrote:

Even if he did do it out of spite, he probably doesn't realize just HOW serious it is...I'm betting that unless he is abused or has legit, desperate reasons to WANT out of his house, he will seriously regret this later in life, if he doesn't already.

I imagine he will regret it as soon as his old man's belt meets the bare flesh of his behind

Drowned Out

Jason P wrote:

Drowned Out wrote:

Even if he did do it out of spite, he probably doesn't realize just HOW serious it is...I'm betting that unless he is abused or has legit, desperate reasons to WANT out of his house, he will seriously regret this later in life, if he doesn't already.

I imagine he will regret it as soon as his old man's belt meets the bare flesh of his behind

Let's hope that isn't what made him turn them in. :(

I'm kinda conflicted on the whole 'parents should have hid it better' thing....in fact, I'm somewhat conflicted on the entire topic of drug education with kids. Should we jump thru hoops to hide it from kids, but trust them not to steal from the liquor cabinet, or from our smoke packs? If a person disagrees that using pot makes you a de facto bad parent, using the shaky morality-based reasoning of illegality....what then?

Obviously, everyone should be encouraged to live a healthy lifestyle, esp until they're adults....But....Is it a parent's duty to, against their beliefs, teach the child to obey for the sake of obeying....? Or is it their duty to teach a kid to stand up for their beliefs? I personally think the possibility of appearing a hypocrite to kids, by hiding use while promoting the prohibitionist stance, has more potential for damage than maintaining an open dialogue about drugs, and allowing them to know you smoke the odd joint.

Cosmo

Doctor prescribed Ritalin is the gateway drug.

musicismylife78

why is no one stating the obvious. the kid wasnt taken out of the parents custody because the parents are users. more than likely the police, in a rare case of actually using their heads, were worried about the parents reaction to the kid turning them in. my guess is the parents werent like "oh well, he made a mistake, we forgive him". My guess is that they flew off the handle. can you imagine how fearful the kid must have been when his parents came to pick him up at school?

musicismylife78

another thing that boggles my mind is the majority of people posting here seem to be BLAMING THE KID! I mean really? No one knows anything beyond the basic skeleton facts about the case. Were the parents abusive? Were they users of other hard drugs? Did they use in front of their kid, or force him to use? We're they nice, loving parents, or mean, spiteful, horrific parents?

My parents and i disagree on everything. from what movies we like, the small stuff, to the big stuff, how to live our lives, what the meaning of life is, what being an adult means etc...

i feel no loyalty to my parents at all. we dont see eye to eye

eyedclaar

Sounds like another good reason to not have kids. Hell, even if I did, the little bastard would never have any free time away from the acid mine, so I'd have nothing to worry about.

Eliot Rosewater

musicismylife78 wrote:

another thing that boggles my mind is the majority of people posting here seem to be BLAMING THE KID! I mean really? No one knows anything beyond the basic skeleton facts about the case. Were the parents abusive? Were they users of other hard drugs? Did they use in front of their kid, or force him to use? We're they nice, loving parents, or mean, spiteful, horrific parents?

My parents and i disagree on everything. from what movies we like, the small stuff, to the big stuff, how to live our lives, what the meaning of life is, what being an adult means etc...

i feel no loyalty to my parents at all. we dont see eye to eye

I don't see at all how this could possibly be the kid's fault. While I am absolutely for the decriminalzation of weed, and don't think filling our jails and prisons with pot users is good, there is no way around blaming the parents 100% for this. They are adults for Christ's sake. And more than that they are parents....and whether or not you agree with them being arrested for this, just letting that ever be a possibility makes them less of parents. Obviously...now they can't even parent these kids, at least for the time being.