Quote:
Originally Posted by Textcritic
Let's be clear here: I was not withholding a kid from his parents. He was in my house, and did not want to leave. This was a simple choice that I gave to a 15-year-old who is regularly at my house: Did he want to stay, or did he want to leave? He made the choice to stay. I think my handling would likely have been a little different with a younger child, but kids at that age have to be afforded the opportunity to make some of these decisions for themselves. If my kids decide to leave and go live somewhere else, at this point in their lives there is not a lot I can or should do to stop them. They stay because this is their home: it's a safe place with loving parents who treat them with dignity and respect.
As to whether or not I made the right choice by calling the police when I did, all I can say was that it was an incredibly stressful period of hours, and in the end I believe we made the right decision. I don't know these people well, and I certainly did not feel equipped to be the go-between in the moment. It seemed at the time that the police were much better equipped to mediate, and they resolved things pretty satisfactorily, I think.
NO. My son's friend was asked where he wanted to go, and he decided to spend time at his grandmother's in Surrey. A family friend of his picked him up and drove him out there.
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As I have dealt with this countless countless times over the years as a foster parent I will throw in my approach, typically when I find someone has snuck into the house after I have sent any extras home, and then I get told he/she cant go home because the parent is an arse, crackhead or something along those lines my answer is always
'well that's terrible, obviously I cant make Johnny go home but I have a responsibility if he's here now that I know what's happening, I have to call his parent and let them know little Johnny is safe, they are still the parent after all and not only would I get into huge trouble if I didn't but also whether they are a good or bad parent I am sure they will still be worried when their kid doesn't come home and leaving them to worry is just as cruel as anything they might have done, if it is as bad as you say we can call the ministry and they will take them into care tonight
or I can give him a ride home as its late or obviously he can take off while I'm calling his dad'
the italic section tends to get thrown in more if I think its just an attempt to get away with a sleep over and the parents actually fine