Teen Calls 911 After Parents Take Away Xbox
Categories: Teens & tweens, In The News, Weird But True, Extreme Childhood
An Illinois teen decided that his punishment was a crime. Credit: Iwan Gabovitch, Flickr
The Daily Herald reports that an unnamed Buffalo Grove, Ill. 15-year-old called 911 last week after his mother and father took away his Xbox as a punishment for an undisclosed transgression. Buffalo Grove police Cmdr. Steve Husak says that the caper started out as a hang-up call to the emergency service.
Husak tells ParentDish that all abandoned 911 calls in the area are traced and that officers follow up with a visit to the address from which the call originated.
"When officers responded, they saw it was a domestic situation," says Husak. "The center of the argument was that his parents were punishing him and he wanted clarification of whether or not they could do that. Officers advised him that yes, that was in fact a punishment."
Husak adds that officers went on to explain that the boy's parents were well within their rights and that he should try to follow the rules of the house.
To his credit, the boy finally agreed.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
precious 11-23-2009 @ 2:30PM
I tell you what, if my child did that the police would be taking him/her w/them.
Reply
Jen 11-23-2009 @ 3:27PM
Lol Precious I completely agree
neal 11-23-2009 @ 6:45PM
Given todays legal system, I really am surprised the parents were NOT incarcerated for not giving the child a "time out" prior to taking away the toy.
lisa 11-23-2009 @ 4:24PM
I agree with you. The parents should have let the police take the teen for a ride back to the precinct. In handcuffs. Just for a little while. Placing the emergency call without an actual emergency is a crime.
William 11-23-2009 @ 5:39PM
Well Precious we can certainly do that.
Andi 11-23-2009 @ 4:38PM
Yup...shoulda placed him in lockup for a while. He would have been crying for mommy and daddy in 10 minutes.
bobbie 11-23-2009 @ 5:35PM
Someone could have had a real emergency while this kid was playing around with 911. The parents not only need to get him used to discipline, they also have to teach him what 911 is for.
Betty Woody 11-23-2009 @ 2:20PM
To his credit, the boy finally agreed.?!!? Has this young man never been disciplined before? No one has taken anything away from him as punishment until he is 15 years old? His parents need education... on parenting and he needs education on use of 911. Can you imagine what this childs reaction will be when his first boss FIRES him?
Reply
Jaime 11-23-2009 @ 3:27PM
Couldn't have said it better myself Betty! Obviously the kid hasn't stopped to think about the hundreds of thousands of kids being beaten or worse by their parents daily, they're the ones I want to hear about calling the police not some snot whose upset his folks took away a game.
paulobailao 11-23-2009 @ 7:29PM
You are so right Betty. Some of today's kids are the whiniest, most self centered and selfish brats ever to be called Americans. Thank God our Greatest Generation were the complete opposite or we would be speaking German or Japanese right now!
gene 12-05-2009 @ 1:10AM
ITs called going postal
Weeble 12-05-2009 @ 1:33AM
No, it is NOT "going postal". That expression is about as juvenile and disrespectful as it gets.
My uncle was MURDERED in one of those "postal" incidents in the Gadsden, Alabama Post Office in the '70's. He left behind a wife and two kids (my cousins) who were in their mid-teens.
Anyone who uses the expression "going postal", as far as I'm concerned, is saying that my uncle's death (and the deaths of the others who have been killed in these "postal" incidents) is just a big joke. It's also an insult to the hard-working people who bring you your mail. Well, HA! HA! to you!
homemom3 11-23-2009 @ 2:29PM
haha, my oldest son did this to me when he was 4 years old. He'd been told by his preschool teacher to call 9-1-1 if you ever got in trouble. He got sent to his room and I stepped out front to grab my mail. I had left my phone upstairs though and after a few minutes he'd calmed down so we went out back and played. After a good 15 minutes in the Arizona sun we were ready to go in. But just as we were heading in police surrounded my home, they insisted someone called them and said they were in trouble. I had no clue, they stayed for a good 30 minutes before leaving. He finally broke down and told me later. I had to explain when you actually call the police and then told the teacher.
Glad to hear the officer in the xbox case backed the parent.
Reply
M 11-23-2009 @ 3:10PM
Four I can forgive. At that age one can't expect them to know what an emergency is nor what would happen when he or she called. Maybe in your son's mind he was supposed to call 9-1-1 every time he got in trouble, not to escape punishment but because that was the rule. Or the thought the people on the other end would help without comprehending that he was calling police.
But fifteen? Really? The kid knew what he was doing. Either that or he has the mental capacity of a five year old. Which is entirely possible come to think of it. Calling over an x-box. The kid is either mentally retarded or spoiled rotten.
Cindy Jenkins 11-23-2009 @ 7:17PM
THAT IS SOOOOOO FUNNY!!!
cork4289 11-26-2009 @ 2:52PM
I thought that is why God made those little peach tree limbs,, Does wonders for kids attatude. My youngest child is 34 and he will tell you that he appriched getting his spankings.
Jamie 11-23-2009 @ 2:34PM
This is the end result of too lenient parenting that has been in fashion for the last 25 or so years. The so-called child welfare organizations got so overly hyped about children being "abused" when they were merely being diciplined that now ANY punishment is considered abuse by these spoiled,obnoxious brats. I'm willing to bet that if his parents had administered a few spankings years ago,this wouldn't even be an issue now.
Reply
sarah 11-23-2009 @ 3:01PM
well, I don't think spankings are necessary, but discipline definitely is.
William 11-23-2009 @ 5:39PM
Just as a point of general information all the hype about child protective services is just that, a bunch of hype. They don't care if you discipline your child. They do care if you beat your child, don't feed them, don't water them, burn with something hot, whip with a belt until bleeding occurrs or deep bruising. Does that sound unreasonable to you? If you spank your child and someone, friend, neighbor, family member, reports violence to the child you will be investigated. Majority of the time the suspect is thanked for being cooperative and have a nice day. Now, what is the problem with that? Really if people ignorant of what they are talking about would keep their mouth shut life would be a lot better for all of us.
STEVE 11-23-2009 @ 4:48PM
Kids today are not stupid, just lazy and spoiled and when you punnish them, they SPAZZ!! I think after a call to 911 the kid should been spanked with the X-BOX!!