Elementary student brings pot to school to turn in his parents

[Swede]

Oh,kid,you are going to regret this one.



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.

snip

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.

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

[REP]

1. Remember the Little Spies from 1984, with parents being terrified of their children?

Yeah. Pretty much.

[burnsei sensei]

2. 1984 Anyone?

"You're a thought criminal!"

[amyrose2712]

3. Just posted that on facebook.

Junior Spies---"Nearly all children nowadays were horrible. What was worst of all was that by means of such organizations as the Spies they were systematically turned into ungovernable little savages, and yet this produced in them no tendency whatever to rebel against the discipline of the Party. On the contrary, they adored the Party and everything connected with it... All their ferocity was turned outwards, against the enemies of the State, against foreigners, traitors, saboteurs, thought-criminals. It was almost normal for people over thirty to be frightened of their own children."
- George Orwell, 1984, Book 1, Chapter 2

[Mimosa]

87. T'was also true of Pol Pot's cambodia as well as the Cultural Revolution in China. n/t

[Odin2005]

4. Ugh, how naziesque.

[Fumesucker]

6. Not any more...

This behavior is perfectly American and has been since my daughter was in grammar school twenty five years ago.

[Odin2005]

8. Another reason I'm homeschooling if i have kids.

[csziggy]

56. Yep, I know people whose kids are all grown that quit because they were worried

That the kids would turn them in. Nancy Reagan lead the charge to brainwash kids into turning in their parents. Heck, one guy quit smoking because his 8 year old daughter threatened to turn him in for child abuse because he smoked in the yard near her!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

9. Would you say the same if the kid told police his mother was being beaten....

...by his dad, or that they were abusing his siblings? What if it wasn't pot, but crack cocaine?

Where is the acceptable line of "ratting out your parents"?

[Swede]

10. What if they were zombies?

Or vampires?

[davidinalameda]

14. zombies definitely

vampires-doubtful

werewolves-maybe

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

51. Or idiots who can't properly hide their weed?

Oh, wait.....

[seabeyond]

12. we do not know what is happening in that home. the article lacks any info

a little piece for us to all chat about....

[proteus_lives]

18. Very true.

It could be that the kid is just mad at his folks and getting back at them.

Or it could be they are abusive/neglectful and he's doing something about it.

Too early to cast judgment.

[Warren DeMontague]

13. so- it's equally reasonable to put kids in foster care if the parents are murderers- or jaywalkers

after all, both are examples of lawbreaking, and only a wishy-washy, muddy-minded shades-of-grey thinker would quibble on about how there is somehow a case-by-case difference between, say, an egregious case of immediate danger and physical harm, and a relatively minor infraction that ISN'T ANYBODY ELSE'S FUCKING BUSINESS IN THE FIRST PLACE.

So 'where is the line'? Quick Answer: It's not in a place where any sane person could consider it 'reasonable' to remove kids from a house because the parents have been known to smoke pot.

[Fumesucker]

17. Drug crimes are much more serious than other crimes..

Since drug crimes are an offense against the state, that's why you lose federal education benefits by getting busted with so much as a single seed but being a serial killer is no bar to federal educational largess.

[kenny blankenship]

16. Crimes with an actual victim maybe?

[Odin2005]

19. You are comparing POT to domestic violence and crack?

:eyes:

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

50. No, but I knew you'd jump to that conclusion

:eyes:

Ask an eleven year old to make the distinction.

[Mariana]

20. When the parents are actually harming someone.

That's the line.

[Mariana]

22. Those dumbass school anti-drug programs

have done nothing for my kid but make her curious as hell. Thanks, assholes.

I have explained to her that the REAL danger of marijuana, in particular, is what the state will do to you if you get caught with it.

[scorpiogirl]

64. I agree.

My 9 year old daughter came home one day this week to tell me all they learned about marijuana. Can I tell you how strange it is to hear that word come rolling off your child's tongue?

I told her it's bad to do any drugs as a child, even including alcohol and cigarettes. I'm pretty certain they probably left out that part of their drug education.

[Mariana]

89. Maybe they didn't leave that out.

My stepkid freaked out when she was six during a visit with me and her dad, because we drank some alcoholic beverages in her presence. You'd think we'd just shot up heroin in front of her the way she acted. She'd just recently been told in school that alcohol is a drug, which is true enough. But they apparently hadn't bothered to tell her that 1) alcohol is legal for adults and that 2) it's safe for most adults to use in reasonable amounts.

In fact, in my state, it's perfectly legal for children to drink alcohol as long as their parent or legal guardian is physically present. This is as it should be.

Anyway, it was all cool in the end. It was a Christmas visit, and she got a bit of a thrill putting out a snack for Santa Clause on Christmas Eve. As she opened his bottle of Heineken and set it on the coaster, she mentioned that it would make a nice change for him since he gets boring old milk at everyone else's house.

[joshcryer]

37. You are reading the journalists' take, not using reason.

Just because the kid turned his parents in does not magically mean he's brainwashed, it's likely other family issues came in to play, and this was an opportunity to get out.

[Canuckistanian]

65. So the kid wanted OUT of the familly?

I've seen and heard of kids who lived in the most deplorable conditions. It takes a LOT of bravery for a kid to turn against an abusive parent. It happens almost ZERO percent of the time.

Fear is a powerful tool against an 11-year old.

There's something else that MUST be happening here.

I SERIOUSLY doubt that this was the child's intended outcome.

[leeroysphitz]

5. Children torn from parents? Due to marijuana possesion?

I swear I would KILL any "law enforcement official" that entered my home with the intention of stealing my children based on this country's racist and oppressive drug laws.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

55. What if it was cocaine, meth, X, or Oxy?

Or are those not drugs?

[Fumesucker]

60. Alcohol is a drug also..

A considerably "harder" one than pot in fact..

[leeroysphitz]

80. No, those would be fine.

[uncommon]

81. My parents did drugs when I was a kid - I would have given anything to get out of that house.

Your post shows your ignorance of what it is like to grow up with drug addict parents.

[Codeine]

93. Well said.

I'd have been a "little narc bastard" too, had I known it would have gotten me out of my home life.

[krabigirl]

97. Smoking a f ew joints, or using it as medicine, does not equal drug abuse,

[uncommon]

100. We don't know what else is going on in that house. My parents smoked pot but my dad also smoked

crack on a regular basis. My mother neglected us and my father was physically and psychologically abusive.

When my little sister reported the physical abuse to her teacher, the school called my sister AND parents into a meeting and asked my sister, in front of her abusers, whether she was telling the truth. She said no because she was scared of them. That isn't doing children any service.

If I had known I could get this outcome from showing someone the drugs, I would have figured out a way to make that happen.

I don't think that recreational occasional pot smokers are automatically bad parents any more than recreational occasional drinkers.

(Edited to add: I didn't find out about the crack until I was an adult - they did a very good job of hiding it from us while still forcing us to feel the negative effects of his addiction, which ranged from neglect to outright physical abuse.)

[KILL THE WISE ONE]

7. just like the soviet union - isn't it

yeah we are free ......

the 11-year old and a sibling have been removed from the parents' house by social services.

I would tell them to keep the little narcs.

[tblue37]

30. I imagine he is having second thoughts now. Too bad--too late. nt

[joshcryer]

36. Oh yes, because when a kid goes to the cops against their parents, it's never justified.

The kids very likely wanted to get out of that living situation.

[Control-Z]

59. And you know that how? n/t

[Wednesdays]

70. Ouija board?

:shrug:

[Mariana]

107. He may have honestly thought that he was helping them.

Could be he expected the cop to tell his parents that drugs are bad, and that they'd say something like, "Oh, we didn't know that. Thanks for telling us. We won't do it anymore." Then they'd all go home and live happily ever after.

[GodlessBiker]

11. Damn narc punk kid.

[REP]

15. No - brainwashed kid by 'helpful' school pogroms - sorry, programs

[Taitertots]

21. Am I the only one who thinks something is wrong with an 11 year old having easy access...

to his parents narcotics? And I support full legalization. I can't support leaving drugs out around children.

""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.""
Parenting fail, good call to take them.

[immoderate]

23. Easy access? I could pick locks at 11.

Parents hide things. Kids find them. It's an old game.

--imm

[Taitertots]

27. Sure you could

What locks? Any lock worth using to protect things isn't going to able to be picked by an 11 year old. For the cost of a small bag of weed they could have gotten a small safe with combination and a lock.

[immoderate]

31. What if the kid found the combination?

Get real. How many families start out with a combination safe to protect a lid of weed?

I didn't say I was a safe cracker. But I could get through locked doors, or windows. My father showed me. He was a cop.



--imm

[jmowreader]

38. With what weed costs these days, they better start.

[Taitertots]

40. Who leaves the combination to their safe where it can be easily found?

So, basically for the cost of one small bag they could have had it secured where the children couldn't gain access. Compared to leaving out where the children have access to it, something I can't endorse.

[immoderate]

103. Good question. The answer is most people.

Did you ever read Richard P. Feynman's autobiography? He was the safecracker of Los Alamos. He broke into the safes of the top atomic scientists under top security conditions. The book describes the places he found their combinations written, and the other simple ways he was able to obtain them.

Easily is a loaded term here. What does that mean to an 11 year old with time, ingenuity, persistence, and resourcefulness?

I'll give you this, IMO, a kid that smart wouldn't do it to drop the dime on his parents, he'd smoke it, or at least confront them. There's a back story here. Maybe they left it out. Maybe the kid's got issues. Something weird.

My friend's daughter was in a DARE program. She's a smart girl. She mostly avoided adults at that age. Years later, she tearfully admitted to her father that while she was a DARE robot, she was filching bits of weed from his stash for herself. LOL. I said she was smart.

Anyway, I think lots of people smoke, and few of them have the security measures you speak of. The ones who have probably learned through experience. Do you really think people buy a safe along with their first bag of weed?

--imm

Edit punctuation.

[Taitertots]

109. Do you think it was ok for your friend to give his daughter marijuana?

Or that she was smart for smoking it. Or that an 11 year old would be smart for stealing and smoking his parents marijuana.

"Easily is a loaded term here"
It is very subjective too. Obviously most children don't have the safe cracking abilities of Richard Feynman. Somewhere between world renowned physicist proof and unsecured exists a reasonable medium. While we may disagree about just how much security is necessary, I hope we can both agree that parents shouldn't give marijuana to their children by leaving it totally unsecured.

"Anyway, I think lots of people smoke, and few of them have the security measures you speak of. The ones who have probably learned through experience. Do you really think people buy a safe along with their first bag of weed?"
All the people I know who smoke and have children have a fairly secured method of storing their marijuana.

[Fumesucker]

29. I guess you never left a beer in the refrigerator?

Alcohol is considerably more dangerous than pot..

What if the kid had taken a beer to school, or a half pint of Jack Daniels?

[Taitertots]

33. I don't have kids, when there are kids over my house the beer is not available to them

It is hard to say what would have happened if the child brought a half pint of JD into school.

[Fumesucker]

45. You don't have kids and you're giving parenting tips?

At one time I would have been mildly surprised, I've been online too long to be surprised by much of anything people say any more.

[Taitertots]

63. Don't leave your drugs out around your children is pretty straight forward

You don't need to have children to recognize the absolute stupidity of giving your children easy access to drugs.

[Fumesucker]

67. You have no idea how "easy" the "access" was to the "drugs"..

I grew up in a home with hard liquor and wine in open decanters in an unlocked cabinet and yet I somehow avoided problems with alcohol.

I can't think of a single person I know that doesn't have a hoard of various kinds of prescription "drugs", a lot of which could be quite dangerous (certainly more dangerous than pot) if ingested by children. Not a single one keeps those things all locked away where kids have no access at all to them.

[Taitertots]

68. Your parents doing it doesn't make it a good idea

A whole lot of people don't die/get hurt doing stupid things, that doesn't make them a good idea. I've been on the top of a car as it drove down the street and I didn't get hurt, but it was still a really stupid thing to do.

Leaving marijuana out where a 11 year old can get it is easy access, it isn't a good idea. I think it is safe to say, if an 11 year old can get it than it is easy access.

Edit:Were to Where

[Fumesucker]

69. Interesting how you have such strong opinions on something you admit you have never done..

Until you have raised kids yourself you really don't have much of a clue as to what they are capable of doing or getting into.

I've been a grandpa for ten years now and I'm still surprised from time to time by kids.

[Taitertots]

71. Can you at least bother to make your opinions logically consistent?

Your opinion is not based on sound reasoning.

Why don't you keep leaving your dope, alcohol, and dangerous pills out and everyone else will take your children and press charges against you when the kids get into them. It doesn't take having children to figure out that dangerous pills, alcohol, and drugs should be kept where children can't get them. Obviously some people can't figure it out even after having children.

[Fumesucker]

78. How many parents actually lock up their alcohol?

Seriously, I bet it's in the teens percentage wise at a maximum.

Tylenol is a very dangerous drug, the LD50 is about 800mg/kg of body weight IIRC, how many parents do you know who keep their Tylenol bottle locked up?

And acetaminophen poisoning is a nasty way to die.

The LD50 for cannabis is so high that it is quite impossible to ingest enough to kill yourself with it, pot is anything but a "dangerous drug".

[HuckleB]

73. Exactly. The real world exists, and it's not that scary. -eom-

[HuckleB]

72. Oh brother, are you joking?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

53. Did someone post the article about the parents growing pot plants.....

....over the baby's crib?

I'm sure there were some here blowing that off too.

[HuckleB]

74. Link?

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

104. Here

Sadly, multiple stories.


http://www.abcactionnews.com/dpp/news/region_tampa/tampa-mom-and-boyfriend-charged-with-turning-kids'-bedroom-into-marijuana-grow-house

http://www.katu.com/news/104958239.html

[tomm2thumbs]

24. '... and YOU'RE in Trouble... and YOU'RE in Trouble...'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PpYasA94sU

too funny

of course it has been musicified
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOVeDwFLd1Q

[Swede]

25. That is just too funny.

Thanks,I needed a good lol.

[tomm2thumbs]

26. she was cute about it too - 'daddy screamed like a girl...'

[Codeine]

28. I'd have to assume there's something else going on in that home. nt

[joshcryer]

34. Yep. It's not "just" the pot.

Many people in this thread are focusing on the pot when it's very likely some other underlying issue and the kid used the pot to get out of a bad situation.

[Codeine]

39. Precisely.

I'd have dropped a dime on my stepdad for dealing weed in a second if I thought anything would have happened, and it would have had fuck-all to do with the drugs.

[uncommon]

82. Precisely - unless the kid is insane, there is something else going on there and

it was the only way he could think of to get out.

[tammywammy]

41. I think so as well. n/t

[seabeyond]

46. agree. nt

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

54. How dare you

Pot users are always responsible, loving, caring and enlightened, you creep. :sarcasm:

[DerekG]

57. DING DING...we have a (probable) winner!

Would an eleven-year old narc on his folks just because of a few DARE classes? Doubt it.

I'd say there was abuse going on in that household.

[Arkansas Granny]

86. Kids are taught at school that all drugs are dangerous. They are encouraged

to narc on anyone they know or suspect of using drugs. They are not informed what will happen to the people they narc on. I'd bet a dollar to a donut that this kid had no idea what kind of trouble he was getting his folks into or that he and his sister would be sent to foster care.

[JVS]

95. +1

Not only are they not told what will happen if they do tell, they are told that drugs (in the generic sense) will kill their users. Thus putting pressure on the kids to intervene.

[uncommon]

101. Bullshit. Kids love and protect their parents - I am 99% certain there is something else

going on in that house that drove the child to do this.

[Arkansas Granny]

102. I'm not saying that nothing else is happening, but I think it is quite possible

that the kid had been led to believe that telling the authorities about his parents was going to help them in the long run. The info they teach about drugs isn't always accurate. They had my daughter convinced that marijuana could kill you.

[Canuckistanian]

66. So would I

I don't think the kid knew THIS would happen. I really don't.

[HuckleB]

77. Why?

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

84. It could be anything frm being raped daily to not getting a PlayStation. -nt

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lightningandsnow]

35. And this is where dumbassed anti-drug programs in schools lead us.

How about we use the harm-reduction approach, okay?

[WillyT]

42. D.A.R.E.... Destroying Family Relationships Since 1983... Thanks Nancy

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.

:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:
:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:
:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:
:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:
:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:
:puke::puke::puke::puke::puke::puke:

:mad:

:kick:

[asdjrocky]

43. A perfect example of why we need to keep cannabis away from kids.

They are so stupid they will give it to cops and get you busted.

[Brickbat]

44. I'll reserve judgment...there could be other stuff going on at that house too.

The kid is clearly needing some kind of help.

[wickerwoman]

47. Yeah,

seems improbable that CPS would take both kids *just* for pot possession. It's possible... but I'd say it's likely there's a lot more to this story that didn't make the headline.

[joshcryer]

48. The journalist focused on this spin because it'd get more hits.

If the article said "children removed from household for neglect after bringing parents pot to school," and if the police could have talked about the neglect aspect of the story, there'd be less controversy.

[Danger Mouse]

49. I know a thing or two about CPS, and I doubt the kids were taken out of the home JUST because of pot

...more likely this was a cry for help from the child, and this seemed the easiest way to do it.

But of course, it's easier to say the kid is some kind of soviet demon beast from hell, turning in his innocent ganja loving parents.

I think it's likely there's more to the story that hasn't yet been put out there.

[seabeyond]

52. and really telling is the poster that suggests a parent wouldnt take a kid back "after this"

gotta wonder.

[Danger Mouse]

61. Being a pot-smoker doesn't necessarily make you a bad parent...

...but yes, there are some terrible parents that are also pot smokers. It's pretty damn hard to get your kids taken away. Hell, even in my own family, there was neglect AND pot use going on, and the kids involved weren't taken away (fortunately, the situation is now resolved), despite multiple CPS calls. Despite what you might think, the law protects terrible parents A LOT more than it really should. There's more to this story that we haven't heard yet.

[seabeyond]

62. agree.

i dont have an issue with pot smoker. i dont have issue with pot smoker being a parent. i have seen much worse parenting with drunks....

just a poster i read above that i was refering to.

but i dont think it is so easy for kids to be pulled either.

[AnArmyVeteran]

105. We need to start building huge state camps for children

If even before someone is found guilty their children can be removed from their homes then we are going to need to build detention centers for millions of children who have been ripped away from their parents. If one parent is an alcoholic take their children away. If they break any law, take away their children. Alcohol is infinitely more deadly and dangerous than pot.

[EFerrari]

75. Something is going on because most kids are protective of their parents. n/t

[HuckleB]

76. Don't be so sure.

A newborn was removed from a mother because she tested positive on a drug screen. It turns out that all she had done was eaten a poppy seed roll sometime shortly before the kid was born. CPS did nothing in terms of investigation besides taking the results of the drug test to court, without the parents present or even knowing that it was happening. Then they removed a newborn for FIVE days, until the mom could get the goofy decision reversed.

CPS is not that smart sometimes.

[pgodbold]

58. So these two had republican kids?

[Rex]

79. I guess the kid thought they would be...jailed?

I'm sure we will find out from the kids soon how life at home was.

[Statistical]

83. Could be a cry for help. I will wait for all the facts before attacking the kids (as some did)

Maybe the kids are abused and nobody listened to that so they tried doing something people would listen to.
Maybe child protective services (to cover their own ass) will actually do a thorough job and discover a history of abuse.

[marmar]

85. More drug war insanity.

nt

[otohara]

88. In 5 Years This Girl Will Be

smoking marijuana - maybe she'll wait until college.

[JVS]

90. Hope the little narc bastard likes not having parents.

[Codeine]

91. "Little narc bastard"? Dude, he's ELEVEN YEARS OLD!

Man, I've seen more sympathy for underage murderers around here.

[JVS]

92. hence the "little narc bastard", if he were 18 he wouldn't be little he'd be "narc bastard"

[Name removed]

94. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[mzmolly]

96. I think the parents should have regrets.

eom

[L0oniX]

98. Maybe it was bad pot ...can't have dirt weed in the house.

[krabigirl]

99. Utter bullshit. And many people use it as medicine, and people here would be fine locking up

the parents in that case as well??

[Cali_Democrat]

106. Dumbass kid. n/t

[cbdo2007]

108. Good. Sounds like the parents need to grow up and start acting like adults.

I grew up with a drug (pot) addicted step-father and it was a nightmare. I thought about calling the cops on him many times but never had the balls to do it.

Good job kid.