It's stories like this that make me afraid to be a parent..

[RICHARD]

Originally posted by RobiLee
He's 20 now and sorry but the parenting never stops!...lol....especially since he's still at home.

A little bit of advice....


Remember,

The first day that you move out on your own is the day you take responsibility for your self.

The first day you screw up, is the day you call your own house, get your own answering machine/voice mail and leave yourself a message that you need help.

Then you wait to get a call from yourself.


When the call comes through, you are all grown up...

Hopefully, you never have to make that call.

Now, I was left alone quite a few times...

The thing that happened with drinking the bleach was an accident....


It all depends on your relationship between the parents and kids.......some kids are more mature than others..

[2kitties]

I was left alone and never had any issues. Usually it was just a bunch of girls getting together for a slumber. The idea of a wild animal house blow out was always out because everyone knew we'd get caught.
Even my party story is actually very tame. A party was thrown and it got out of hand- but not in a drinking, dangerous way. It was just kids having too much fun. And, if I recall correctly, almost every teen incident of too much fun results in somebody's lawn getting toiletpapered. In my case, there were two parties on the street- both of them harmless. Except we each decided to *prank* the other party. Even now my parents agree they completely overreacted by grounding me for so long. And I managed to go to college, get a job, move out and not mooch off them in my adulthood and am a contributing member of society.

I think the teen party is a right of passage. It is what it is.

This story is a kid with MUCH bigger issues than being left alone overnight. The problem here is not a lack of supervision. It is a whole other set of mental issues. Ask any teenager you know and they can tell you that catching your house on fire is wrong.

I don't have children. But when I do, I'll hopefully raise them with enough common sense to spend a night alone in their own home without burning the house down! lol

[RobiLee]

Originally posted by 2kitties
This story is a kid with MUCH bigger issues than being left alone overnight. The problem here is not a lack of supervision. It is a whole other set of mental issues. Ask any teenager you know and they can tell you that catching your house on fire is wrong.

I agree, 2kitties!


I'm going to remember that advice, Richard and pass it along.

Robin

[lovemyshiba]

ROTFLMAO Richard!!! "Lousy T-shirt"

We had the parties in high school too--I can remember one at a friend's getting a little out of hand, but obviously not to that extent. She was dumb though, her dad was a teacher, and the party was the talk of the school Monday morning

I can remember being left home alone for a weekend once, I had probably 5 or 6 people stay over. My grandparents lived 2 houses down, and in the morning, as we were all sprawled all over the living room, Grandpa came up to check on me and the dog!!!!

I had people over another time my parents were away, if was my freshman year of college, and I was home for Christmas break, and there were probably 10 of us or so--they knew I would probably have people over, so it was no big deal. My dad found a beer cap under a cabinet a few months later--he knew where it came from

[mugsy]

1. When I was 16 my parents wouldn't even consider leaving me alone.

2. People are so afraid of their kids calling CPS that they won't discipline them, and we are now seeing the results.

3. The court system just furthers the "dumbing down" of discipline. A slap on the wrist? He burnt a house down ON PURPOSE....he should do time until he's 18...at which time his record is basically purged since it is sealed.

4. Irresponsible neighbors too....the police should have been called.

5. Where was mother during all of this...she thinks it's ok for her son to stay at his father's house while father is gone?

6. I smell a rat....

[Tonya]

Originally posted by 2kitties
This story is a kid with MUCH bigger issues than being left alone overnight. The problem here is not a lack of supervision. It is a whole other set of mental issues. Ask any teenager you know and they can tell you that catching your house on fire is wrong.

Exactly!

[ramanth]

Originally posted by Twisterdog
What kind of IDIOTS leave their sixteen year old alone with no supervision, not even a relative staying in the house or checking in every night?

My parents.

My sisters and I were left home alone when I was in my teens. I was in charge. We were told not to throw a party and we didn't. My sisters and I had TWO friends over to stay with us when we were bored.

I guess I'll just have to sit my mom down and find out how in the heck she raised me so I can have similar success and not end up in the news like that poor guy.

*edit* Just wanted to say that our situations sound similar Robin. Our Grandparents and neighbors knew my parents would be going out of town and would check up on us if they felt it was justified but they must of trusted us because they hardly ever did.

[Sara luvs her Tinky]

MY GOODNESS.......

When i was a teenager... my mom had to leave me a bit because she lost her job and had to take a night job... and i had people over a lot.. but you have to be an IRRESPONSIBLE, CARELESS KID.. to let your party get so out of hand that anything is damaged...

I think this kid has some serious problems...

#1 he is immature and unintelligent.. anyone knows that when a house or anything for that matter is set on fire... they can tell if it was arson..

and #2... most teenagers will try to the death to cover up the damage if they have to patch the hole or move around furniture.. or even deny they did the damage all together...

something just doesn't seem right....

[CathyBogart]

Originally posted by Twisterdog
What kind of IDIOTS leave their sixteen year old alone with no supervision, not even a relative staying in the house or checking in every night? That is SO incredibly stupid. No, no one expects their kids to torch their own house ... however, most parents WOULD expect their kid to throw a party, or break their curfew or otherwise break the rules left alone with no adults. Come on .....

Don't call my parents idiots! I think you may be saying something about more peoples' parents here than you know with that comment. They went on several weekend trips with my siblings but without me from the time I was sixteen and up. (Because retail jobs are hard to get time off from)

I can honestly say that I never did anything that they wouldn't approve of. (Although that's probably because my parties involve less than ten people coming over to make sushi and roleplay. *Chuckles*)

I saw this article elsewhere, and it made me sooo glad I'm Childfree!! Every time I see something like this it reaffirms that my chosen lifestyle is the right one for me!!

[Kfamr]

Wow.. Not only are the parents idiots, but the kid is an idiot.
My brother (much older than me) and I have been left alone before, no longer than 24 hours, but we've made holes in walls, broken things, and i'm sure lots of other things. We've patched walls and cleaned up our mistakes MANY times. We've always told them about what happened, but we always cleaned up after ourselves as well. Never to the point of setting the house on fire.



I personally love when my parents let me stay home alone.
If I didn't have dogs, I'd hate it. They've never allowed me to stay home more than 24 hours alone, and I wouldn't want to anyways. The biggest thing I worry about while I'm home alone
is if what if anything happened to the dogs. I can't drive, I have no transportation.

I've never had a party though, I'd only have a party with my parents approval. Other than that I love the alone time with the pups and a party would ruin the nice, quiet, relaxed time alone.

[RICHARD]

FIRE ISLAND
by the FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE
----------------------

Driving on the lawn
Sleeping on the roof
Drinking all the alcohol
All the kids from school
Will be naked in the pool
While our parents are on Fire Island

Cranking up the tunes
'Til the windows break
Feeding chocolate to the dog
Jumping on the couch
'Til the feathers all come out
While our parents are on Fire Island

We're old enough by now
To take care of each other
We don't need no babysitter
We don't need no father or mother
We're old enough by now
Don't worry 'bout a thing
Don't you remember
Last December
When you went to Steamboat Springs?

Driving on the lawn
Sleeping on the roof
Drinking all the alcohol
All the kids from school
Will be naked in the pool
While our parents are on Fire Island

[Twisterdog]

Don't call my parents idiots! I think you may be saying something about more peoples' parents here than you know with that comment ... I can honestly say that I never did anything that they wouldn't approve of. (Although that's probably because my parties involve less than ten people coming over to make sushi and roleplay. *Chuckles*)

Don't take it personally, my goodness. If that is the wildest thing you ever did as a teen ... make sushi and roleplay ... then good for you. And, your parents probably KNEW that, therefore knew they could leave for the weekend.

However ... they were lucky. Most parents are not so lucky, and have at least one wild kid in the family. Or, not necesarily wild, maybe just immature and not capable of making good choices yet.

I know personally of one teen, in my town, whose parents left for the weekend. The teen told a couple of her friends to come over and watch movies. That is ALL she had in mind. Well, one of those friends invited some boys. The girl didn't want to to look un-cool, so she didn't say anything. Then, a couple more people showed up, who told a couple more, etc. They had a raging party that TRASHED the house ... and it was not what the girl intended at all. She was just too insecure/immature to say anything, and by the time it was out of control, it was too late. Had relatives or family been told to check up on her, it wouldn't have happened.

And, partying aside, I do not think it is EVER a good idea to leave a teen alone with no one checking up on them. What if the furnace malfunctions, and the CO2 levels rise? What if they fall down the stairs and hit their head? What if their car slides into a ditch, where no one can see them, and they are trapped inside for three days, because their parents are out of town and no one is checking on them? (Also a true story from my town, BTW.)

Teenagers do NOT have the decades of life experience that mature adults have, and they have never run a household or a house by themselves. I'm not bashing teenagers, or saying they are incompetent or stupid. I was a teenager myself once, too. But, the fact of the matter is, someone needs to check on them daily. So, I'm sorry if the way I phrased that sentence offended anyone, but I stand by it - teens left alone for a weekend or a week with no one checking on them is not smart.

Our Grandparents and neighbors knew my parents would be going out of town and would check up on us if they felt it was justified but they must of trusted us because they hardly ever did.

And that's what I meant - someone knew, and could check ... and you knew it.

[IttyBittyKitty]

Yeah, leave a sixteen year old boy in your house alone for a week and tell him to to have parties? You may as well lock Michael Jackson in a dark room with a small boy and ask Michael not to touch him!

[Denyce]

While his son lived with his ex-wife in Price Hill, Layne allowed his son to come to his house each morning so the teen could attend Oak Hills and ride there with a neighbor

I think you all have missed an important point in the story. The son was NOT left ALONE in the sense that he didn't LIVE at this home. He lives with his mother somewhere else. He is only allowed ACCESS to the fathers home so that he can bypass the residency rules and attend a different school than the one he should be attending where he actually resides. That is where the father made a mistake. That and apparently giving the child keys to a home he doesn't live in. The son didn't have any of HIS personal belongings in the home so what did he care if it was burned down.

To me what is important in being a parent is to set a good example. His father was setting the example that it is ok to break the rules if it is a benefit to yourself. If he hadn't done that in the first place and hadn't given the brat keys then perhaps this never would have happened eh?

Denyce

[moosmom]

Leaving a 16 year old alone in a home and telling him not to have parties is absolutely ABSURD!!!!!

I hope the little juvenile enjoys his sentence. Maybe by the time he's a man he'll understand the repercussions of his mistakes. His time in jail will give him PLENTY of opportunity to stew.