4 ms·

So does this mean that if I accidentally forget to lock my front door that it is legal for you to walk around inside my house?

• jacquesm 18y ago
  That argument has been beaten to death so many times it really loses it's shine. So, no that does not make it legal. BUT We're talking about a kid that is according to the OP 13 years old, at that age you are not considered to be able to make these judgement calls. Forbidden fruit and all that...
  • bmj 18y ago
    But it strikes me in your original comment, you do state that what he did was wrong. Certainly, I don't advocate anything more than the OP does. This strikes me as one of those "teachable moments" that will help the kid make these sorts of judgment calls in the future.
    • jacquesm 18y ago
      Hm, ok I see what you mean. Let me try to rephrase what I meant: He did something that could have been considered wrong, had he been in the possession of enough common sense to figure that out by himself. As it was I think he probably just thought it was an exciting puzzle to figure out, which in and of itself is not wrong. It's up to the adults to help kids make the right judgement calls, so in this case I see it as failed parenting / eduction, not a failure on the part of the kid. Fully agree with you on the 'teachable moment' thing, opportunities like that come by too little anyway. The fact that an extended family member is asking about this on a public message board already makes me worried this has gotten way too big in comparison to the infraction.
      • bmj 18y ago
        I concur with your last point. As far as failed parenting...hmmm...I wouldn't go that far. Kids will make poor choices, no matter how great the parenting. I think we need to abstain from judging that without more details.
        • jacquesm 18y ago
          true enough, I take that back.