Kids Say/Do the Darndest Things...WWYD?

teresamwhite
teresamwhite Posts: 947 Member
edited November 2024 in Chit-Chat
Posted this on my feed, but thought I might try for a wider range of responses...because I seriously don't know whether to laugh or ground him...

It's 12:20 and you just got off the phone with your kid's vice principal...turns out your kid built and programmed a robot to empty the vending machine of unhealthy snacks.

Said kid then picked the lock on the principal's door and neatly stacked said snacks on the desk, and covered the snacks with sticky notes with various sayings, like "#stoppoisoningkids" or "Junk Food is EVIL" or "Down with Little Debbie"...

Pop quiz: What do you do (as you are leaving work and heading to the school because the kid is about to be suspended)? All thoughts welcome...

Replies

  • ew_david
    ew_david Posts: 3,473 Member
    Punish him, but he'll be the next Bill Gates.
  • bmele0
    bmele0 Posts: 282 Member
    Hahahahah omg. I don't know what I'd do, how old is your kid?
  • asdowe13
    asdowe13 Posts: 1,951 Member
    Punish him, and educate him on food choices. Nothing wrong with chips, little debbie, bars, etc.
  • JenAndSome
    JenAndSome Posts: 1,893 Member
    Find a way for him to channel his obvious genius for a good cause. Some sort of charity work maybe. Your kid sounds great!
  • Lasmartchika
    Lasmartchika Posts: 3,440 Member
    adowe wrote: »
    Punish him, and educate him on food choices. Nothing wrong with chips, little debbie, bars, etc.

    Yes punish and educate him cuz there's nothing wrong with junk food. And even tho it may be what you've taught him, he can't force everybody to think the same way. His actions have consequences.
  • Alisontheice
    Alisontheice Posts: 9,611 Member
    Try really hard to keep a straight face while telling him he shouldn't have done that

    And then PM your speech you give him so I can use it in the future when my son does the same thing
  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
    Why is this even a question? He basically stole food, and broke into a private office. It doesn't matter what his reasoning is.

    Also, maybe teach him that he is in charge of *his* food choices and not other peoples. If he wants the "bad" (IMO, no such thing) foods out of the vending machine, perhaps a petition would have been a more productive, responsible use of his time and energies.
  • brucewayne48910
    brucewayne48910 Posts: 54 Member
    Punish him.. but not too bad.. Hes probably going to save the world from Skynet someday
    Terminator_2_449.jpg
  • Laoch_Cailin
    Laoch_Cailin Posts: 414 Member
    He did wrong with stealing snacks and breaking and entering.

    His view on foods also needs looked at (everything in moderation).

    I'd probably ground him and give him a massive lecture....but he sounds like a genius!!! What type of robot did he build??
  • fobs13
    fobs13 Posts: 1,080 Member
    Why is this even a question? He basically stole food, and broke into a private office. It doesn't matter what his reasoning is.

    Also, maybe teach him that he is in charge of *his* food choices and not other peoples. If he wants the "bad" (IMO, no such thing) foods out of the vending machine, perhaps a petition would have been a more productive, responsible use of his time and energies.

    This. Can't believe anyone would condone this behaviour.
  • salvationsdying
    salvationsdying Posts: 205 Member
    I wanna know how old this kid is and how he figured out to program a robot to do this.... Look
  • teresamwhite
    teresamwhite Posts: 947 Member
    He built a small crab looking robot with telescoping pincers, controlled remotely from his laptop...and he's 15. He put the robot in the bottom of the vending machine, where you pull the tasty treats out, and the crab did all the work. The principal was impressed with the engineering...even if he was slightly not amused by the B&E performed on his door.

    He goes to a small charter school, the school population is mostly kids outside the norm anyway...from environmental hippie types to uber-geeks. Many of them have lodged protests over the vending machine choices, and the school newspaper has had commentary on it since the start of the school year. They even reported that the majority of the kids have boycotted the machines (last year they had one of those turnstile type machines with organic fruit, KIND bars, vegan/vegetarian options, etc...this year its a standard candy/chips machine)...the majority of the people actually using the machine are the teachers.

    The principal understood it to be a protest, and because the product was all turned in, didn't consider it theft. The kid, though, is definitely in trouble for the B&E and has been suspended til Monday...and he will miss the Saturday X School Battle Bots Tournament as a result of the suspension. He has also been fined 1000 student points (points are used in the student store, can be used to "pay" for extra lab time, or traded for other things...roughly $100 equivalent. Points cannot be purchased, they're earned through merit. Keeps all kids on an even playing field, regardless of economic status.)

    Our commentary to the kid was:
    1. Peaceful protest does involve risk, be willing to accept consequences, particularly if your protest involves a crime of any sort.
    2. Exhaust all non-criminal means of protest before resorting to something that exposes you to risk of punishment.
    3. Accept not all people are going to make the same choices as you; sometimes, no matter how well reasoned, people will still disagree.
    4. Apply your talents and energies meaningfully.

    (PS> I'm proud of you for having an opinion on the world around you, though I wish you had gone about it a different way, and doing SOMETHING to effect a change rather than simply complain about it. Action may result in trouble, but will always result in reaction.)

    (PPS> you are grounded til Monday morning, when you are allowed to go back to school.)

    (PPPS> excellent job on the robot...can you please send it behind the washing machine and the dryer to get those wads of dryer lint, odd socks and assorted debris? Thankyouverymuch!)

  • LouLouStBijou
    LouLouStBijou Posts: 987 Member
    He built a small crab looking robot with telescoping pincers, controlled remotely from his laptop...and he's 15. He put the robot in the bottom of the vending machine, where you pull the tasty treats out, and the crab did all the work. The principal was impressed with the engineering...even if he was slightly not amused by the B&E performed on his door.

    He goes to a small charter school, the school population is mostly kids outside the norm anyway...from environmental hippie types to uber-geeks. Many of them have lodged protests over the vending machine choices, and the school newspaper has had commentary on it since the start of the school year. They even reported that the majority of the kids have boycotted the machines (last year they had one of those turnstile type machines with organic fruit, KIND bars, vegan/vegetarian options, etc...this year its a standard candy/chips machine)...the majority of the people actually using the machine are the teachers.

    The principal understood it to be a protest, and because the product was all turned in, didn't consider it theft. The kid, though, is definitely in trouble for the B&E and has been suspended til Monday...and he will miss the Saturday X School Battle Bots Tournament as a result of the suspension. He has also been fined 1000 student points (points are used in the student store, can be used to "pay" for extra lab time, or traded for other things...roughly $100 equivalent. Points cannot be purchased, they're earned through merit. Keeps all kids on an even playing field, regardless of economic status.)

    Our commentary to the kid was:
    1. Peaceful protest does involve risk, be willing to accept consequences, particularly if your protest involves a crime of any sort.
    2. Exhaust all non-criminal means of protest before resorting to something that exposes you to risk of punishment.
    3. Accept not all people are going to make the same choices as you; sometimes, no matter how well reasoned, people will still disagree.
    4. Apply your talents and energies meaningfully.

    (PS> I'm proud of you for having an opinion on the world around you, though I wish you had gone about it a different way, and doing SOMETHING to effect a change rather than simply complain about it. Action may result in trouble, but will always result in reaction.)

    (PPS> you are grounded til Monday morning, when you are allowed to go back to school.)

    (PPPS> excellent job on the robot...can you please send it behind the washing machine and the dryer to get those wads of dryer lint, odd socks and assorted debris? Thankyouverymuch!)

    You sound like a good mother, you've got this covered!!!!!
  • jlahorn
    jlahorn Posts: 377 Member
    Your kid sounds great.
    The school sounds great.
    And you sound great.

    Rock on.
  • TheBeerRunner
    TheBeerRunner Posts: 2,777 Member
    Punish him now, because he's sure to be the one who programs the robots that will eventually enslave the human race.
This discussion has been closed.