Leave your kid in jail...teach him a lesson...

Recently we came across one mom who's facing a difficult dilemma that no mom with teenagers would envy. Her 18-year-old son was arrested for a DUI that resulted in an accident. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured; but now, she's trying to decide whether to leave him in jail until his trial date to teach him a lesson or bail him out.

It's obviously been tough for this mom to leave her son in jail. As a mom, she has practical concerns for his safety and says, "It's hard to see your child that way."

However, she also recognizes how serious his offense is and thinks that serving jail time might be the only opportunity to teach him an important lesson. "Despite realizing that it's not really that uncommon of a thing for someone his age to be out drinking and partying some, I couldn't overlook the fact that he made a conscious decision to drive drunk," she says.

Every parent tries to make the choices they feel will best help their child in the long run, and this comes down to making a very personal and difficult decision.

Would prolonged jail time be an effective deterrent for your own child? Have you ever left your teen in jail to teach a lesson? Did it work?

Written by Kim Conte for CafeMom's Big Kid Buzz