When an Arizona mom found her 16-year-old daughter in bed with a boy, she was understandably angry. It’s what she did next that got the cops called on her.
After Jeanette Woods discovered the 16-year-old boy in bed with her daughter, police say she woke him up, put a beatdown on him and chased him from her home. The teen, who was clad in only his pants, left behind his phone and his car and reported vomiting during the stressful chase as Woods continued to pound on him. According to the police report, after she ceased the beating, she threatened to sic her cousins on him, then headed back and took a baseball bat to the teen’s car, which the officers found a short distance from the home — where they also discovered that some items in the car were missing.
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Woods was eventually arrested and faces charges of theft, criminal damage (to the tune of over $5,000) and assault.
To an extent, we can understand this mother’s point of view. It’s not a good feeling to discover that your daughter has likely been having sex in her bed under your roof — an activity that might be prohibited or forbidden. However, taking it upon yourself to assault a minor, threaten him with further bodily harm, smash his car and steal his stuff is taking it way too far. So this should not be your plan if you discover a similar situation unfolding in your own home.
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What can moms do, then, if they actually catch their kids in the act? Well, for starters, depending on the location, you can call the police if both kids are under the age of consent, but that really depends on local law and whether you want to go down that path at all (as an aside, if one person is underage and the other is not, you probably should phone the police). Basically, age of consent differs from state to state, and even smaller jurisdictions within those states, so it’s possible the sex act itself was illegal if both participants were underage.
A different strategy, though, would be to lay down the law before something like this happens and outline what a punishment would be, if any, if your teen is caught. And if you discover that you have an unauthorized overnight visitor, feel free to elaborate in a firm tone why this shouldn’t happen again with both parties — a few words from an angry parent can deter even the most enamored teen from trying for a tryst under your roof in the future.
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There is, however, another consideration to undertake before it gets to this point. Honest talks with your teens about sex is always good parenting. They should include a discussion about potential outcomes (pregnancy, STIs) as well as what is and isn’t considered consent (vital teaching both for your boys and your girls). This can be of more service to your young person than flying off the handle, screaming at or pounding the crap out of kids or their property. Yes, they will likely be scared to death of you and of ever coming over to your house again, but as this case noted, it’s against the law and won’t earn you any good karma.
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