The other thread got me thinking. I have no children, but I wonder what I would do I had one/some and they commited a crime, but no one else knew. Would I turn them in? So, same question dope. Would you turn your child in? Poll coming.
Wow, depends on what crime. And which child 
Depends… Are we talking immediately, or having tried and failed to get the kid to turn him/herself in? Age of the child? Severity of the crime?
No, probably not, unless he/she was a serial killer or rapist. I would not actively hide him/her, launder money, or store contraband, but I don’t think I’d tell the police where he/she was, either. I’d probably just pretend I didn’t know.
This is my answer now as a non-parent. Hopefully I’ll never be in a position to be tested.
No. The American legal system is very dangerous and I wouldn’t expose a kid to that unless they were a serial predator of some kind (vs a one time mistake, which is what I’m going with in this thread). Some remorse and recompenses would be enough. If they were a serial abuser (serial child molester, serial rapist, a serious gang member, etc) and I knew they’d hurt other people then yeah I’d turn them in.
Agreed. Something major - murder, rape, robbery - probably. Something minor, probably not. Example: 18-year old drinks a beer. shrug
If my kid did something so beyond acceptable that I was at a loss as to how to even come to terms with the fact that my kid did that (murder, rape, etc.) I would let the law handle it. For something minor I wouldn’t turn them in but I also wouldn’t be rushing to bail them out if they got caught either.
It depends on the age of the child and the severity of the crime, of course. I’d never turn my adult child in for pot smoking, unless I was at the point of staging an intervention, I suppose.
Ditto. It really depends on any number of things. Was there a victim of this crime? Was the harm serious? Will ‘turning him in’ mean turning him in to the legal authorities, or just making him 'fess up to a store clerk that he swiped a pack of gum? And so forth.
The kid will know that actions have consequences, but during his minority, I want the consequences in his life to come from me, to the extent reasonably possible.
Were others harmed, or was it a victimless crime? Biggies like murder, rape, you bet I’m turning him in. I think I would also turn him in for theft or vandalism too, come to think of it.
And come to think of it even more, it would have to be quite a petty crime like littering to make me NOT turn him in. Sorry buddy. You do the crime, you do the time. I raised you better than this.
ETA: And yeah, confessing to a store clerk is turning him in. I wouldn’t haul him down to the police station in that case.
I’ve known my children for a long time and I think I have a good feel for what they will and will not do. If it was absolutely positve that they had commited a terrible crime, say killed a person for no reason right in front of me, I would try to convince them to turn themselves in and then I would call the police. Until then, if I won’t give my own child a second chance, who will?
I would have no problem turning in my son. We’ve had so many problems with him and discipline, I’d be begging the police to help me. My daughter, on the other hand, it would depend on what the crime was. I’d probably talk with her and she would turn herself in, she’s pretty responsible.
Dunno. How much is the reward?
I want to say that, if my son committed a non-statutory rape, a serial killing, or certain varieties of murder, I would urge him strongly to turn himself him and would also refuse to shelter him, while for other crimes I would help him even if it involved breaking the law myself.
But the thing is, for me this question involves thinking that my son’s come back from the dead somehow. If my son were resurrected and adult, I rather suspect that I’d commit murder myself before letting anyone take him away. And, yeah, I know that’s immoral.
And completely understandable.
Apparently, not.
It would be really hard not to find myself as a parent a somewhat responsible. So, it would have to be something really big.
As others have said it depends on the crime.
Depends on the crime, I guess. I would certainly not enable the crime (e.g. no drugs while under MY roof)… but if the police came looking, I would not hide the kid or lie about his whereabouts.
Best answer ever. And a good get rich quick scheme too. Train your kid to become a proficient thief, then turn him in for hte reward money and keep all the stolen possessions. You’ll be in Costa Rica living high on the hog while your kid is in prison.
No, I don’t have kids in case anyone wonders. It is probably for the best.
I answered “Other and I’m a parent”.
Obviously it depends on the crime; if I were to find out the horrible news that my child caused the death of or seriously harmed someone, I would make sure my child turned themselves over to the authorities and had the best legal representation possible. However, were I to find a quarter-ounce baggie of pot in their bedroom, I would not even consider involvling the authorities for that “crime”.
I think a better question would be “Would you turn your child in if they were wanted on a felony warrant”. My answer to that would be as above - I would make sure they turned themselves in and had the best legal representation possible.