WWYD?

[tuneskids]

Ok, so you all may remember my vent about my son the other day. He has been grounded due to his attitude, but tonight my hubby decided to give him some freedom, since we are moving this week and he won't have time for anything besides school.

Well, about an hour before he was due home, a call came to the house, with a blocked number. I was downstairs watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition, hubby was in the washroom, so we missed it. He came out and checked voice mail. It was a call from a "police officer" saying to call immediately regarding our son Cody. So Des panics and calls the number that was left ... it kept ringing. So he decided to call our local dispatch, to see if they knew what was going on. The officer had just gone off shift, so they radioed him to find out if he knew what we were calling about ... nope.
By then, I had come upstairs to find out who Des was on the phone with. I listened to the voice mail, and recognized the voice ... it was one of Cody's friends. So I phoned Cody's girlfriend, to see if she was with him. She was at home, and gave me his friend's cell number. I called it, and Cody's friend was laughing as he answered. I asked where my son was, and he said right here and handed him the phone. I told Cody to get his a$$ home immediately, I was not amused. When his friend answered the phone laughing, we clued in that it was a joke ... needless to say, we weren't amused.
Anyways. Cody came home, we informed him we were not impressed, and he was now grounded through the remainder of the school year. We then decided that the parents of the other teenagers involved should know what the boys were up to. So we recorded the voice mail to the laptop and headed down the street to one of their houses. Christian, who we would never have expected to have done this, is also now grounded until the end of the school year - he was the one who left the message on our voice mail. We grabbed the other boy and headed up to his place to let his parents know as well (I know his parents at least) ... although he apparently isn't in as much $hit, he was just on FB.

I was just freaking out thinking something happened to Cody, to find out it was a bunch of boys thinking they were being funny.

AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!

Do you think we handled this the right way?

 

[Joan]

I think you handled it great, Sonja. NOT a funny joke at the best of times, but what a stupid thing to do when you'd just allowed Cody a little freedom. Good for you guys making sure the other kids' parents knew what their kids did too.

 

[Paula]

I would call the police officer who they pretended to be and have him come to your home and ream your son about impersonating a police officer and how that is a crime. You know, have the cop scare the crap out of your son. I know it seems mean, but I promise you - it worked for my two older kids.

 

[Paula]

BTW, you absolutely did the right thing telling the parents and grounding your son.

 

[Christy Lyle]

Seeing as personating a police officer in Canada is a criminal offence and is a summary offence which can get you 6 months in jail or a $5,000 fine, Cody and his friend are lucky. I think you handled things very well, Sonja.

 

[jessica31876]

Im not sure...I guess that would probably depend on whether your son actually knew it was being done. The reason I say this is we have had kids prank calling our house in the past who knew my daughter and they thought it was hilarious. My daughter was here though so I know she did not know about it/participate in it. Had she been with them or participated in it in anyway I would have probably punished her for it. Prank calls are annoying at best and can be very stressful when taken in the direction your son's friends took it. It does sound like he knew about it though from your description so yea I would have probably handled it the same way you did. Although taking the recording to his friends parents wouldn't work around here because most of the kids parents around here would have probably just laughed it off. At least the boys parents took it seriously. BTW beyond impersonating a police officer it is also a crime to make prank calls in the US at leaast. I am not sure where you are but Im guessing there is probably punishments for prank calling regardless of what the prank call is about.

 

[newfiemountiewife]

Yes, it is illegal to do this in Canada. I would make sure they were WELL aware of that fact. Get the cop who you were speaking to, to come and make a point with them. You really cannot go running around pretending you're the cops, even if it is just a teenage prank.

Sorry Sonja. ((hugs)) I think you did the perfect thing.

 

[pbumbaca]

I think you should have beat his a$$!

Seriously, I definitely think you did the right thing and I totally agree with Paula about having the police officer talk to all the boys. WOW I am so afraid of what I am in for with my 13 and 10yos! Good luck!

 

[lovely1m]

Wow, nothing like scaring the crap out of your parents for a joke. Yes, I think you handled it right.

 

[iJenny]

If your son was in on the "joke" then you did the right thing by nailing his @$$ to the wall. Not only is impersonating a police officer a criminal offense (here in the US as well), but its damn scary for parents to get a call from a police officer regarding their child.

So, while he might not have totally understood how stupid and scary what he and his buddies did was, he sure as heck knows now, huh?

You did the right thing. Sounds like you're gonna have to keep a tight reign on this kiddo for a while until he grows up a bit. Stick to your guns, Sonya. You're doing a great job. ♥♥

 

[ajf9597]

I think you did the right thing. It would be a hard situation, but at least you told the other parents too, so they knew what was going on.