Every action has an equal consequence, and sometimes a painful lesson is required to realize this. This is exactly what prompted Chiquita Hill, Sean’s mother, to take dramatic measures after learning of his misbehavior at school.
Hill learned from her son’s fifth-grade teacher that he had been behaving out in class, including taking back, being nasty and disrespectful, not listening, and failing to complete his homework like his peers, according to ABC News.
The schoolteacher decided to go to the boy’s house to talk to him, but he refused to listen to what she had to say. According to his mother, the teacher’s warnings went ‘in one ear and out the other,’ prompting her to realize she needed to do more to persuade him to change his habits. As she puts it:
‘I knew I had to stun him in some way.’
Hill decided to pursue aid from the officers after the furious teacher left. So she dialed 911 and informed the Columbus Police Department of her son’s rudeness and disrespectfull.
The police department decided to dispatch officers to Hill’s house after hearing the details.
She told him what was going to happen just before they arrived, but he didn’t trust her. She claims: ‘Sean was skeptical. It finally hit him as they arrived at the door.’
When the police came, they told the loving mother what they were about to do, and with her permission, they went ahead with the plan. The first step was to handcuff the poor kid like a criminal, then walk him out and secure him in the backseat of their police cruiser, where he sat for about five minutes.
They decided to make it appear as genuine as possible, knowing how smart kids are these days. So one cop got in his cruiser, flashed his lights, and backed up a few inches to terrify him.
Hill stood by and watched this all later admitting that the little child had little time to respond to the novelty of being shackled and thrown into a car he thought was taking him to jail.
Hill stated in her statement:’ I was trying to make a point to my son that if you want to be disrespectful and harsh, this is what happens when awful people do bad things,’ she explained.
The police gave the kid a good talking to before deciding he was sufficiently shaken, at which point they let him out and watched him run as fast as his legs could carry him back to his mother’s arms.
Hill had no idea what the boy had been told in the automobile, but when he returned, Sean had changed his ways. Hill stated, ‘[Sean] hugged me tight and told me, ‘I’ll never do it again.’
She sat the kid down after the cops had departed and talked to him about what had happened, emphasizing to him that his actions have effects and are frequently paid for by people around him.
The outcomes persuaded Hill that she had made the right decision. Because of the complexity of our brains, certain memories will never be forgotten in our lives.
Hill was certain that when Sean grew older, he would remember the lesson she had taught him about civility, especially in a society where harmful practices were influencing an increasing number of children.
According to Columbus Police Department Assistant Chief Lem Miller, the cops who got involved did so without express permission from their bosses, and the state police are ‘not in the business of pretending to arrest someone.’
While it was great that they were able to scare the kid straight, Miller conceded that it may have made him distrust the police, which could have reflected in his later life.
Thankfully, he confirmed that the cops would not be punished because they were merely attempting to do the right thing. That did not change the fact that they may have used their uniforms’ authority. He said:’ We completely understand that they were attempting to do good.’
Then they emphasized that they were not ‘endorsing’ it and that such severe measures will be avoided from now on.
Despite what Miller stated, Hill feels confident in her decision, particularly since she began receiving positive reports from the same fifth-grade teacher who had traveled all the way to their home to talk reason into her son.
Meanwhile, as soon as the news hit the internet, Facebook users rushed to express their thoughts on the situation. Hill received nearly equal praise and condemnation for taking such a step. A user commented:
‘A caring mother will go to any length to ensure that her child follows the straight and narrow road, and if that means going to jail, so be it. I believe it will make him afraid to do terrible things and not fear the cops.’
Another person who disagreed said: ‘On so many levels, this is incorrect! My husband, a veteran police officer, disliked it when parents threatened their kids to call the cops if their children did not behave well.’
Some thought it was harsh, but Hill couldn’t care less because her actions had brought about the change she wanted in her son.