Should kids be treated like hardened criminals? An ex-cop's advice to parents
Want to improve your parenting skills? Watch an episode of "Locked Up." According to Eric Adams, a 22 year veteran of the NYPD, kids' rooms should be treated like prison cells and checked regularly for weapons and drugs.The New York State Senator posted a YouTube video with instructions for parents on how to safeguard their home from their own kids' criminal activity.[Watch it here.]
His advice reads like arundown for prison guards in training.Check their bedsheets for weapons by "running your hands over the pillows and see if you feel anything that's unusual," he advises. Other tips include:
Unscrew doll heads for stashed drugs
Check backpacks for crack-pipes or cut straws
Look behind framed photos for bullets
Open every book on their shelf in search of cocaine
Rummage through jewelry boxes for small-caliber weapons
Reading your child's diary or searching their sock drawer for contraband is nothing new for parents of teenagers, but applying measures used by cops and wardens is a new extreme. "You would be surprised how many parents are disconnected from the drug and violence culture," Adams told the New York Daily News. "They believe it's on TV, not in their house."
With two school shootings already this year, the issue of guns in the hand of kids is real. But should we treat all kids like potential criminals?
"There are no first amendment rights in your household," says Adams on the video. That's some strong rhetoric for parents considering snooping on their kids. While parental involvement sometimes calls for crackdowns on privacy, are cell checks going to far?
Not according to Adams who routinely inspects his 15-year-old son's property for contraband. He believes finding suspicious items in your kid's room provides an opportunity for conversation, but in the prisoner-guard dynamic, communication is not the first thing that comes to mind. Are strip-searches next or are prison-style room checks just a part of modern parenting?
Related:
Should kids play with toy guns?
Guns and toddlers: can they co-exist?
Should there be school shooting fire drills?
Reading your kids text messages: pros and cons
