Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

November 19, 2009

A Buffalo Grove, Illinois boy called 911 after his parents took away his Xbox console as punishment.

The boy hung up, reports The Chicago Tribune, but as a matter of routine, an officer was dispatched to the home just in case. The boy apparently admitted to making the call and asked a cop whether his parents were within their rights taking away his game system. A police officer assured him that they were.

A Police Commander told the paper that he did not know why the boy was being punished. Police further advised the boy to listen to his parents.

Comments

Comment viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.
Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

ROTFLOL wow that made my day XD

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

You're welcome!

Posted 11/19/09 at 08:04am
sortableturnip: Kid calls 911 after it was taken away by parents: http://tinyurl.com/yfbs3ku

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox
Gold Stars to the parents! Yes, confiscation of property is legal! That goes for you too, [my daughter]!
Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

Video games are serious business...

They will look up and shout "Give ROFLCOPTERS to us"... and I´ll whisper "NO". The cynical side of videogames (spanish only): http://thelostlevel.blogspot.com/ My DeviantArt Page (aka DeviantCensorship): http://www.darkknightstrikes.deviantart.com

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

I'm surprised the kid & his parents didn't get a fine for that call.

 

 

"It's better to be hated for who you are, then be loved for who you are not." - Montgomery Gentry

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

The associated image is classic.  Well done!

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

Ok, jokes asside, this actually does touch on the more interesting topic of minors and property ownership.  This sounds like a strait forward punishment by restricting game time, but...

One of the roles of police (and CPS) is to prevent parents from commiting crimes against their own children.   Theft is a crime.  Minors can own property (though the specifics vary from state to state) and legally a gift becomes the property of the recipient.  Generally minors do not have the legal ability to sell/transfer property on their own, but guardians do not have the legal right to take away that property either.

So from a technical point of view, it could be said that the parents did commit a crime that is sufficiently socially acceptable that the police gave a nod and a wink, letting it slide.  If the minor wanted to actually push the issue though he could very well be in the right.

Though since there was likely no formal transfer of ownership, it would be up to a judge to decide if it really was the minor's property or not... and most judges would probably side with the parents since regardless of law, it would be a politically bad move to side with the kid.  

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

I would have to argue that it would be legally questionable whether the minor could own property.

If a 10 year old's bike is stolen, whose name is on the Police report as owning the bike?  The Guardian's or the child's?

Same thing with property in the house being stolen during a burglery.  Is ownership of various properties broken down by Guardian and minor?

Of course, there is always the tried and true logic:  It's the Guardian's house.  They pay the electricity.  If they can't take away the XBox, TV, DVD, computer, etc, they CAN deprive the minor of connecting to the electric sockets.  Problem solved.

And, as I've said many times before, it sucks to be a kid.

Nightwng2000

NW2K Software

http://www.facebook.com/nightwing2000

Nightwng2000 is now admin to the group "Parents For Education, Not Legislation" on MySpace as http://groups.myspace.com/pfenl

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

Apparently it varries from state to state.  The most common configuration is minors can own and utilize property but not transfer it.

Preventing use of electricity would probably the most legally sound approach.

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

You know.. That's an interesting point.. I know that when I started earning money and buying my own stuff, I was sure to make it very clear to my parents that IT IS MINE. Therefore, I could control it as I saw fit, and restrict it's use when it came to my brothers. (They mistreated my video games all of the time, so when I bought my 360 the first time, I made damn sure they were treating it right.)

It makes me wonder if the same argument could be used against them if they threatened to take my legally purchased property away. Even more interesting, I wonder how that would play as I grew closer to the age of majority, and even past it, when I was still living at home.

I do remember one particular fight with my dad, where he threatened to break my XBOX because I was being disrespectful (admittedly, I was.) I told him that I had purchased it myself, and if he did, he'd find himself in small claims court. It pissed him off, but it stopped him in his tracks, and he didn't destroy it..  I wonder if there is some legal precedent?

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

You may have a point, but you are assuming that the kid bought the XBox himself, and wasn't given provisions (either implicit or explicit) that he behave himself before being allowed to make the purchase, or else given the XBox without similar provisions.

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

I don't know where you live, but here in Minnesota, nobody under the age of sixteen is legally allowed to own any property, and even then, you can't own anything valued over 250 bucks until you are eighteen.  Also, if you live in your parent's house, regardless of age, you are legally required to obey their rules, so long as you are not placed in any danger.

Also, always thought you were an ignoramus, but come ON!  The parents committed theft?  That's a new low, even for you.

---

He was dead when I got here.

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

While i believe there is a point before "enter arbitrary age limit for adulthood here" where a minor is capable of making his or her own personal decisions so long as a child is living under their parents roof, eating their food and being provided for and taken care of from their parents, the child must follow their parent's authority and rules.

On the other hand I believe that if an individual minor can prove "lets say through a court of law" that they are capable and mature enough to take care of and provide for themselves and make their own decisions they should be able to emancipate themselves from their parents and gain all the legal rights and responsibilties of adulthood.

 "No law means no law" - Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black on the First Amendment

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

And look!!! The cop didn't have to once use his taser on the boy, that's downright amazing!

There's a certain police officer and deadbeat mother in another nearby state who could take a lesson from this guy.

 

Kids being Kids != Taser target practice

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

If he was that upset, why didn't he just run away, attempt to climb a tree, fall out of it and die on impact with the ground ala Brandon Crisp?

When Jack Thompson runs his mouth, does anyone really care what he has to say anymore?

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

The kid was probably being annoying online thank god

 

 

Never underestimate the power of idiots in large amounts.

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

Until you're 18 or emancipated, deal with it.

Re: Police: Yes Kid, Parents Can Take Your Xbox

Wow. Man, I'd sure hate to pwn him. He'd probably give me a headache. man, but yea kid, your screwed. Unless I paid COLD HARD CASH for anything, it wasn't mine, even gifts can be "temporarily misplaced" till I was 16, then it was mine :) yea, but even then, I was God when it came to the care and safety of my games, let me tell you.... If I found so much as a scratched I raised all mighty hell. Typically on he who borrowed it.

GamePolitics ShoutBox

Posted 02/09/10 at 07:00am
Austin_Lewis: That Alabama school shooting is supposedly gang related, according to the shooter's lawyer.
Posted 02/08/10 at 10:22pm
JDKJ: Landrieu. That's a good Cajun name. I ga-run-tee.
Posted 02/08/10 at 09:36pm
BearDogg-X: New Orleans elected Sen. Mary Landrieu's brother, Lt. Governor Mitch Landrieu as mayor Saturday night.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:22pm
Valdearg: J/K, btw, with that last comment. Just in case anyone was confused.
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:21pm
Valdearg: This comes on the heels of Sarah Palin telling the Teaparty Convention to pray for Divine intervention to stop the Progressive tide. It seems she succeeded in recruiting the big man to offer some help. >.<
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:20pm
Valdearg: @A_L: I'm hearing that, as well.. It seems the dems aren't just losing seats via elections... :(
Posted 02/08/10 at 02:04pm
DarkSaber: Did he design Big Murtha Truckers 1 & 2?
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:50pm
Austin_Lewis: John Murtha reportedly deceased.
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:04pm
Shadow D. Darkman: DarkSaber: (EDIT) IDC really, it's just good to see some new stuff here.
Posted 02/08/10 at 01:02pm
DarkSaber: @Shadow If the on-going spat in China over WoW counts as "new" at least. Does anyone here REALLY give a shit about the state of chinas game industry anyway?
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:59pm
gellymatos: Oh, we pro-life advocates have our nutjuobs to (ie, guys who shoot up abortion clincs). We can have worse ones than yours.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:58pm
Shadow D. Darkman: Finally, new articles!
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:57pm
Valdearg: @Gelly: As much as I hate to admit it, it's because so many of us on the Left are utterly predictable with our outrage, LOL.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:57pm
gellymatos: Oh, and the boycotting didn't get that much attention to be a real blow to pro-choice advocates either.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:52pm
gellymatos: ...predict such a bad move by what is not considered a stupid group.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:50pm
gellymatos: How can you script someone boycotting the super bowl over such a trivial ad. An ad they must have seen before hand. You can't...
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:47pm
Valdearg: There are plenty of bright people in Marketing, and this struck me as too perfect, and too scripted to have been just a byproduct of some lucky stroke of luck on FotF's part.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:46pm
Valdearg: You are so quick to disqualify the possibility that it was planned. I'm not saying that it necessarily WAS as I describe it, but I certainly believe it a very real possibility.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:42pm
gellymatos: ...that. However, that doesn't strike me as something predictable. Was it a bonus? Yes. Was it planned to be so? No.
Posted 02/08/10 at 12:41pm
DarkSaber: Ah right here we go again, someone disagrees with Val therefore they don't know what they are talking about.
Login or register to post shouts