repost: violent kids
mickey1330
member
I posted this on 6-9 as well, b/c I know some people over there also have older ones, but I wanted to get your perspective on this as well.
Yesterday I let my 6 y/o DS go down the street to play at his friends house. This is new for him, it was only the 2nd time he's been allowed down there. There were a bunch of older kids in the driveway getting kind of rowdy, so I walked over there to go tell DS it was time to come home. (He was inside playing with the 6 y/o boy that lives there).
As I got there, DS walked out of the house with tears in his eyes. I figured he and his friend had been arguing. I asked him what was wrong, and he told me that the other boy "got a knife and told him he was going to cut him in the neck." WHAT????? Not wanting to jump to crazy conclusions, I asked him again. He repeated what he said.
Through many questions, I found out that the other boy got a boxcutter/razor knife and threatened to cut my DS in the neck, all b/c he wanted DS's scooter and he wouldn't give it to him.
I was LIVID. Went down there, and told both the boy and him mom that he was not under any circumstances to come knock on my door anymore, that DS was NOT allowed to play with him any more. The mom said she would handle the siutation on their end (once we had determined that what DS was the truth, thanks to the older brother, who's a teenager, telling us what he observed).
What is wrong with some kids? I cannot believe a 6 year old had access to a knife, much less threatened my DS with it. Would you guys have handled this situation any diffferently than I did?
Re: repost: violent kids
That is scary. I'm glad your son was/is okay. What did the other mom say?
FWIW, in my opinion it's not too terribly hard for a 6 year old to find a box cutter/knife. At that age they are old enough to know not to mess with them so knives are usually up on the counter in their wood block or in a drawer that they are NOT supposed to touch. I don't find it too hard to believe the boy had access to it if you look at it like that. My 6 year old would know where to find the kitchen knives and knows we have a box cutter but that's up on the ice box itself (but he still could get a chair and gain access to it).
Sheesh! Unbelievable. My son is 6, and I cannot imagine what a wreck he'd be if this happened to him.
I certainly think you were right to let the mom of the other small boy know what had happened.
Like you, I would not allow my child to play with this other kid anymore.
The only other thing you might want to do (and you might already have done this and just didn't mention it in your post) is to reassure your son that he did the right thing by telling you what happened, and that if he ever feels like another kid is being mean or unfair to him, and that he needs adult help dealing with it, that it's absolutely okay to come and tell an adult everything and ask for help. Make sure he knows that it's okay to announce that he needs to call his mom or that he's going home, if another kid is threatening him.
I'm sorry your son had to deal with this! Keep us posted about any fallout from the mom!
I would have done the exact same thing and I might have even called the police. If the child at 6 years old is threatening w/ a weapon something must be going on in that home that needs to be investigated. AND there will also be a police report to back up if this happens again...maybe to another child who isn't brave enough to tell his mom right away.
And you would n't have to worry baout ruining the child's life b/c it will be sealed when he turns 18.
The mom actually didn't seem very surprised by it! According to the neighbors (we just moved here in July) this boy has a reputation as being kind of rough.
Also, I don't think their parenting skills are very good. I know for a fact that this boy is allowed to play games like Splinter Cell and Grand Theft Auto on his PS3 with no restrictions.No way my 6 year old would be playing that kind of game. Who knows what he's allowed to watch on tv, hears from the parents, etc. Neither of the boy's moms are home very much. And there is no father on scene either.
That is horrifying. I'd want to do something more like call the police or CPS or something. Your son also might need to talk to a counselor about it -- I know I'd be traumatized by something like that.