Dad Arrested over Son's Essay

[Cyia]

http://news.aol.com/article/boy-essay-father-arrest/347380

When his son didn't move out from in front of the TV, a Michigan dad shot him in the butt with a BBgun. The boy then wrote an essay about it for school and his teacher passed it on to the authorities.

Dad says he wasn't drunk, just stupid and realized it as soon as he shot his son. He thought the pocket would be padded enough that the shot wouldn't hurt.

[Seaclusion]

It's amazing no one was arrested from some of my essay's in school. But then again it was a different time.

Richard

[Monkey]

I was all ready to get my dander up, but this guy wasn't jailed for his son's essay; he was jailed for shooting his son in the butt with a BB gun.

Teachers are mandatory reporters. If they see (or read) anything that makes them think "child abuse" and don't report it, they can lose their licenses. I can see how this would cause such a report.

Then again, BB guns don't do much damage, and while I would never in a million years shoot one at my teenage son, I do think the story's a little funny.

[Christine N.]

Yeah, I had that happen to me a couple of weeks ago. I talked with the regular teacher the day after I subbed in her class about this child's story - assuring her that first I asked if it was a made-up story or not. The teacher told me she was aware of the home situation, but that this new evidence would be presented to the child psychologist, who the boy was visiting on a regular basis.

That little boy was so sweet too, it broke my heart.

[Plot Device]

This is the sort of thing they'll be laughing about at Thanksgiving dinner twenty years from now.

[KikiteNeko]

And yet, so many deserving people can't be parents. It really makes you wonder if there's not just some big wheel in the sky that fate spins to decide who gets to be a parent.

[Norman D Gutter]

Why didn't the dad shoot the TV set instead, then go help his son with his homework?

[SHBueche]

This is the sort of thing they'll be laughing about at Thanksgiving dinner twenty years from now.

Can you imagine what they'd do to the turkey?!

[KikiteNeko]

Why didn't the dad shoot the TV set instead, then go help his son with his homework?

Seriously. All of this would have been avoided if he'd checked his kids' homework. My parents practically lorded over me before allowing me to hand in any homework assignment.

[blacbird]

Seriously. All of this would have been avoided if he'd checked his kids' homework.

Yeah, hell, as long as you make sure the little creep isn't spilling the beans to a teacher in his homework, you can shoot him as much as you like.

caw

[James81]

Ok, now I know that this is a truly horrible thing for a father to do to his son, and I think that he is lower than low scum or comparable to that white junk that accumulates on your teeth....

...but did anybody else laugh?

I know I shouldn't laugh, but I can't help it.

Again, though, what a sick freak.

[citymouse]

If I knew as a child what I know now my parents would have spent their golden years in the state pen!
C

[AncientEagle]

We kids shot each other with BB guns more than once when I was a youngster. While I don't condone it as a means of getting his son's attention, especially in this modern, more concerned, more hair-trigger society, it doesn't sound to me like the end of the world. Not smart, yes. But a FELONY? Was the kid actually wounded? If it were up to me, I'd warn the father not to ever again do anything so stupid, and that would be the end of it.

[Siddow]

James, I laughed, but only because I've been shot in the butt with a BB gun. Twice. Once by the neighbor boy, and then I laughed, then my brother shot me.

Ah, to be a young girl in the South...

[Monkey]

Yeah, it must be a "in the south" thing.

BB gun fights between neighbor kids wasn't unusual when I was young. Did you grow up in the Southern US, AncientEagle?

[Joe270]

We kids shot each other with BB guns more than once when I was a youngster.

Yeah, it must be a southern sorta thing. I've been shot a few times, too.

My father, the baby of the family, shot his oldest brother (some twenty years older) in the chest in front of the whole family and many guests after his brother wouldn't give him something he wanted.

The brother took him over his knee and tanned his ass but good, in front of the whole crowd.

[AncientEagle]

Yeah, it must be a "in the south" thing.

BB gun fights between neighbor kids wasn't unusual when I was young. Did you grow up in the Southern US, AncientEagle?

I did indeed. Luckily, I still have both eyes intact. But usually we knew better than to aim for the head.

[Alpha Echo]

James, I laughed, but only because I've been shot in the butt with a BB gun. Twice. Once by the neighbor boy, and then I laughed, then my brother shot me.

Ah, to be a young girl in the South...

Haha! I laughed because...it was kinda funny! I did not have the pleasure of being shot in the butt with a BB gun.

[kuwisdelu]

Domestic, and especially child abuse is one of my big issues. But a felony for a BB gun is ridiculous, especially if it's an isolated incident. It's a frickin' BB gun!

[Cranky]

I dunno know if it's a Southern thing, really. We had a neighbor kid shoot a window of our still-being built house in South Dakota, and I think we were one of the few families in the area that DIDN'T have a BB gun.

In a town of about 2,000 people. *shrug*

Dad in this case was stupid, imo. Don't think he should be charged with a felony for this, though.

[James81]

Domestic, and especially child abuse is one of my big issues. But a felony for a BB gun is ridiculous, especially if it's an isolated incident. It's a frickin' BB gun!

Word.

Hell, I used to be target practice for my brother.

[Monkey]

I dunno know if it's a Southern thing, really. We had a neighbor kid shoot a window of our still-being built house in South Dakota, and I think we were one of the few families in the area that DIDN'T have a BB gun.


I was more referring to the practice of shooting people with BB guns. :D

On a slightly seperate note, I'm betting that if this had happened to the dad when he was growing up, there wouldn't have been such a fuss made over it. I mean, when I think about how I was raised and compare it to the way society expects children to be raised these days, there's a huge disconnect. Some people, like my father, are still stuck in the earlier mentality.

For instance, when I last visited my family, my father wanted to take my kids somewhere. I told him that he couldn't because the carseats were elsewhere, and two of my kids still need them. Dad couldn't understand. I remember riding in the back windsheild of the car or sitting in the floorboard, using the seat cushion as a table. Dad remembers that, too, and can't see how things are so different now that letting me ride that way was OK but letting my kids do it isn't.

Ditto letting the kids play outside unattended for hours at a time--usually in unfenced areas with the admonishon to "be in before dark".

Ditto letting us play "Cowboys and Indians" or "Cops and Robbers" with BB guns. Heck, the neighbor boys and I once played a version where I didn't get a gun, but I got a horse--bareback, halter only--and they tried to shoot me while I tried to trample them. The rule was I'd kick the ever-living crap out of them if they ever shot my horse. :D

Anyway, my only point is that child safety and child abuse have morphed over time, and what was once accepted is no longer. This father sounds like someone who just wasn't thinking, and was probably raised in a time and place where most people would have had a laugh at what he did, not throw him in jail.

On the other hand, I think our changes in what constitutes child safety are, for the most part, good changes, and that failing to give your child the minimum safety expected by current societal norms can and will get you into big trouble.

He should have known better than to do it.

[scarletpeaches]

Why didn't the dad shoot the TV set instead, then go help his son with his homework?

Sheesh, don't you know how much new televisions cost these days?!

[euclid]

What is a BB gun?

Found it on Google. I don't think we have those over here (UK and Ireland). Not sure about Europe. We do have airguns that shoot small pellets shaped like ancient chinese helmets.

[Jersey Chick]

My husband used to shoot his kid brother with a bb gun - and they grew up right here.

I want to shoot you in the ass with a bb gun
hide in the tall grass and laugh at what I done
see the bruising swell up on your buns
I want to shoot you in the ass with a bb gun

Not my lyrics - don't know where they came from - but it's a sad kind of funny - like the story

[maestrowork]

Somehow I think the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, though...

[kuwisdelu]

What is a BB gun?

Found it on Google. I don't think we have those over here (UK and Ireland). Not sure about Europe. We do have airguns that shoot small pellets shaped like ancient chinese helmets.

Kind of like that. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_gun) They're airguns that shoot little steel balls. Usually not fast enough to pose any serious threat (though they can hurt like hell and possibly break the skin). The only real danger is eye protection.

[euclid]

I remember riding in the back windsheild of the car or sitting in the floorboard, using the seat cushion as a table. Dad remembers that, too, and can't see how things are so different now that letting me ride that way was OK but letting my kids do it isn't.

My dad had a series of MG cars with running boards along the sides. We used to have great fun riding on the running boards, holding on through the open windows. Also, he always had a sliding roof, and we used to stand on the passenger seat with heads up through the roof. That was great!

[RobJ]

Dad says he wasn't drunk, just stupid
Stupid? I don't know. The kid was IN FRONT OF THE TV, for Christ's sake. I bet the kid won't make that mistake again ;)

Cheers,
Rob

[Christine N.]

Kind of like that. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BB_gun) They're airguns that shoot little steel balls. Usually not fast enough to pose any serious threat (though they can hurt like hell and possibly break the skin). The only real danger is eye protection.

Unless someone shoots a cat with it. Which is how my childhood pet died. Little punk shot him, perferated his internal organs.