hamish Report post Posted April 7, 2009 Day 2 and I have remembered why I hate school hols. After structured activity, parks etc.. yesterday we had a day at home today mostly to sve money and catch up on laundry. To cut a long story short loads of crappy minor stuff went wrong, youngest is ill so moaned all day and I failled to remember what a bad idea leaving DS2 to his own devices is. Cue...a policeman arriving on my doorstep because DS (age 5 dx ADHD) had been making 999 calls and being abusive to the operators, something along the lines of 'you stupid fat grandma' (a favourite insult currently). What do you do? He really doesn't comprhend that this is not acceptable- just laughs. Am probably going to have to remove all the phones now, at this rate all we will have left in a few months is the floorboards! S x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pookie170 Report post Posted April 7, 2009 Oh dear, sounds like a bad day alright....... Bear in mind that you can lock your phone, so that he can't use it. (I think you need to call your service provider to access this though? Correct me if I'm wrong, folks! ) Did the policeman speak with your son? He's only 5, of course, so it can't really be expected that he'd be able to think of possible consequences but I wonder if theres material out there to help illustrate the seriousness of his actions to him..... Certainly, your local police force/ fire service should be able to give you some pointers or material to look through with your son. They should be fairly obliging in this and I fully expect that their aim would not be to frighten your son but to get this through to him..... I hope tomorrows rather calmer for you... Estherx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kathryn Report post Posted April 7, 2009 Oh dear - I hope the rest of the holiday goes rather better! I think my home phone is lockable but I've never actually done it - I think it's in the instructions somewhere! K x Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hamish Report post Posted April 8, 2009 Thanks, I hadn't thought about locking the phones. Will look into that. The policeman didn't seem too concerned but I was a little disappointed he didn't give the kids the hard word. Just said 'as long as you are all ok'. I should have asked really but was too busy apologising to think straight. LOL. I guess if it happens again they might want to have a word with him. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Mum of 3 Report post Posted April 8, 2009 My son is 5 and he's just got really into 999 and all that. They've done work on it in school. Dilemma-he needs to know what to do in an emergency, but doesn't have the self control not to do it when the mood takes him. I've talked about it in a 'social story' style, and given hard and fast rules about when it is, and isn,t ok. Of course, mine hasn't actually done it yet, and for some reason is terrified of getting arrested! So, whenever he threatens to call, I say the police will come and they'll be very cross, and this has stopped him. Of course, when they come and they're not cross ... Do you live anywhere near Eureka? They have a phone box there where children can role play a 999 call. This could be a way to structure teaching the right and wrong reasons to do it! Another thought, in my experience of organising visits to schools, the fire service are not half as soft as the police on this sort of thing, and really hammer home the message that hoax calls cost lives! I know they'll come to your house to advise on fire protection if asked (they often come in a fire engine!!!), and if you call and explain your dilemma, I'm sure they'll come and say what's needed. We had a tumble drier set on fire, so called them, and they were great at explaining it all to my DS so he wasn't scared any more, but knows how to recognise an emergency and what to do. Couldn't praise them highly enough. Good luck Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
fiorelli Report post Posted April 8, 2009 I remember '999' days well! Luckily(?) my son now hates anything to do with phones and will avoid them at all costs! Just FYI, if you do lock your phones, it won't affect being able to dial 999/112. In other words, you will still be able to phone emergency services. Same when you lock the keypad on your mobile phone! Next time you go somewhere and can't get a signal on your mobile, have a look at it - it should say something like 'emergency calls only'! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Enid Report post Posted April 8, 2009 And ME!!! Last year my son was endlessly ringing them!! he was 12, You cant lock the phone against emergency calls, even when I hid them, he used to run out and do it from a call box, hopefully it will be just a phase, mine lasted a few months though! sorry. Enid Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Moll Report post Posted April 9, 2009 We have cordless bitatone handsets and they can be locked so no keys being pressed will work you just press and hold down the orange button to lock or unlock. We had another type that would dial 999 even if locked we took them back to argos within minutes of getting them out. My mobile also will not dial 999 if locked nokia and LG do this that I know of. The advantage of cordless phones is they can be kept on a shelf and charged at night once the little darlings are not about. Thing is I wish they would not do the 999 talk with 4 year olds, my son thinks he can tell the police if I take a toy off him or such like. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hamish Report post Posted April 10, 2009 Thanks for all the replies. Seems like my son isn't the only one LOL. @ Mum of 3- I am near Eureka, we live in Kirklees, was planning to go this holiday too, that sound like a good idea. Luckily the rest of the week hasn't been too bad (just the usual wandering off and hiding!) Hubby is home for 4 days now so yay Have a good Easter everyone. Sx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
