# Can parents use a restraining order to prevent a minor teenager from contacting their kid? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 6, 2015, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-parents-use-a-restraining-order-to-prevent-a-minor-teenager-from-contacting-their-kid/709090 "2015-01-06T02:30:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-parents-use-a-restraining-order-to-prevent-a-minor-teenager-from-contacting-their-kid/709090/21 "2015-01-06T22:57:13Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I tried looking for the other boy online (mainly for his criminal record; I’m sure he has one) and couldn’t find any evidence of him online, which makes me think he’s deceased. Or long-term incarcerated. BTW, it wasn’t a dating thing, not at all. It was a bullying situation. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2015, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-parents-use-a-restraining-order-to-prevent-a-minor-teenager-from-contacting-their-kid/709090/22 "2015-01-06T23:54:52Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > . . . What this woman did is not stalking. It’s not ‘right’ either and if the mother of a 14 year old says stay away, then you should respect that. But don’t call it stalking. I find it insulting. With all respect, you’re wrong. What you suffered was extremely bad, far worse than the typical case of stalking. It had a lot of other crimes mixed into it: vandalism, assault, etc. But other, lesser cases, are still stalking too. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-parents-use-a-restraining-order-to-prevent-a-minor-teenager-from-contacting-their-kid/709090/23 "2015-01-07T00:27:02Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > But other, lesser cases, are still stalking too. That’s the problem. That word shouldn’t be used for trifles like the case in the OP or my hypo with Bricker. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-parents-use-a-restraining-order-to-prevent-a-minor-teenager-from-contacting-their-kid/709090/24 "2015-01-07T02:25:52Z")
Maybe… But I don’t want to see words either diluted or restricted to only severe cases. Say one guy gets the shit kicked out of him, breaks eighteen bones, loses the sight in one eye, never regains the use of his left hand. Another guy comes along with a black eye. Does the first guy get to say, “That isn’t assault and battery. I’m offended.” Of course it’s assault and battery: it’s just a much lesser case. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2015, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-parents-use-a-restraining-order-to-prevent-a-minor-teenager-from-contacting-their-kid/709090/25 "2015-01-07T18:38:04Z")
I seriously doubt that the mother in this case felt any fear for her own or her daughter’s safety. If were called something like ‘third degree stalking’, I would have no problem with that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-parents-use-a-restraining-order-to-prevent-a-minor-teenager-from-contacting-their-kid/709090.md?page=1)