Fish out of water scooping things out

[joe.accountant]

Hello forum!

As you can tell from my screen name, I'm anything but a police officer. However, my 15-year-old son has been talking about wanting to go into law enforcement since he was eight (before then it was astronaut and gummy bear tester), and I am starting to think that this is really what he wants to do with his life. I guess I will have to resign myself to the fact that he won't continue the accountant family tradition. ;) Seriously, I want to support him in any way I can, so I figured I'd scoop things out a little. I'm sure I'll think of specific questions.

Thanks for having me!

[Control372]

Welcome to RP. I'm sure you'll find alot of information on here. Some info you will like, some you probably won't. He still has quite a few years to think about it so I hope it works out for the best!

[Jynkxxie]

Hello forum!

As you can tell from my screen name, I'm anything but a police officer. However, my 15-year-old son has been talking about wanting to go into law enforcement since he was eight (before then it was astronaut and gummy bear tester), and I am starting to think that this is really what he wants to do with his life. I guess I will have to resign myself to the fact that he won't continue the accountant family tradition. ;) Seriously, I want to support him in any way I can, so I figured I'd scoop things out a little. I'm sure I'll think of specific questions.

Thanks for having me!

Kudo's to you! And Welcome.

Hopefully after some peeking around here you will learn just how important it is to stay after him, <not implying that you don't>, and he will understand the importance of keeping his nose clean, and how it is the best thing he can do for his future, especially if he wants to enter LE.

[Kimble]

However, my 15-year-old son has been talking about wanting to go into law enforcement since he was eight (before then it was astronaut and gummy bear tester)...

Gummy bear tester, huh? How do I find opening for that job? :p

Good to see a supportive dad on board. Tell your son to feel free to check out the site himself if he has specific questions.

[joe.accountant]

Gummy bear tester, huh? How do I find opening for that job? :p

Unfortunately, those jobs are rare and HIGHLY competitive. He felt he couldn't handle the pressures of the hiring process. :p

Tell your son to feel free to check out the site himself if he has specific questions.

I will definitely have him stop by here, but I wanted to check things out for myself first. I wouldn't want him hanging out with "the wrong crowd" and ruin his chances of becoming a police officer. :D

BTW, from reading some of the posts here, there seems to be a strict "no grammatical or typographical error" policy. So I figured I should explain why my initial post said "scooping things out" instead of "scoping". Now, "scoping" is just looking around. "Scooping", however, goes deeper than "scoping", and does, in fact, attempt to get to the bottom of things.

Actually, it was just a brain fart -- but I like my explanation.

[joe.accountant]

Kudo's to you! And Welcome.

Hopefully after some peeking around here you will learn just how important it is to stay after him, <not implying that you don't>, and he will understand the importance of keeping his nose clean, and how it is the best thing he can do for his future, especially if he wants to enter LE.

Thank you for the welcome!

Frankly, that's my main concern. Any parent worries about their teenager getting himself or herself into trouble, but I realize that staying on top of your kid is even more important if he or she wants to go into law enforcement. Because of the way I was raised, I have generally had the attitude: "You can make your own mistakes and you can learn your own lessons from those mistakes." However, while my son may very well learn some valuable lessons along the way, he cannot afford to make even ONE mistake if he wants to become a police officer. So I guess it is time for me to change that attitude and stress the importance of not making those kinds of mistakes at all.

He's a good kid, from what I can tell. But then, I'm only his father. :D What he does behind my back, is a whole different story.

[Ferus]

Is there a Police Explorer Post near where you live? If you're not sure try and look it up on the local police department's website or trying calling the business line to find out.

"Law Enforcement Exploring is a worksite-based program for young men and women who have completed the eighth grade and are 14 years of age, or are 15 years of age but have not yet reached their 21st birthday.

Law Enforcement Explorer posts help youth to gain insight into a variety of programs that offer hands-on career activities. For young men and women who are interested in careers in the field of law enforcement, Exploring offers experiential learning with lots of fun-filled, hands-on activities that promote the growth and development of adolescent youth."

Sounds like something he might want to look into, I know I am glad there is an Explorer Post where I live, it's a great way to learn about the career and not-to-mention its looks pretty good on college applications.

Just thought I'd throw it out there, here is a link for more info:

http://www.learning-for-life.org/exp...ent/index.html

[Jynkxxie]

He's a good kid, from what I can tell. But then, I'm only his father. :D What he does behind my back, is a whole different story.

The point is that you are proactive, and the benefits of that can never really be measured, but more often than not, it will pay off.

[joe.accountant]

The point is that you are proactive, and the benefits of that can never really be measured, but more often than not, it will pay off.

He can tell right from wrong. That's really just common sense anyway. He works hard, is very responsible, great athlete (with a brain). The only thing that really worries me is that he is a very bright kid and sometimes very opinionated. I could just see him get into a verbal argument with a superior if he disagrees with something. He's not agressive or disrespectful, he just has a hard time simply accepting someone else's opinion or direction if he feels that something does not make "sense" or if there is a better way of doing it. And he could talk a fish into buying bottled water. Perhaps he should be a politician or lawyer...

Any idea on how I can get him to understand that there are times when he simply has to do what somebody tells him to do regardless of whether he agrees with them or not? I just can't see him in the academy following orders without having a debate first. He really is very undisciplined, which is primarily my fault. Mom's not in the picture. I just never have been a "Yes, Sir. No, Sir." kind of dad. I would hate to think that I have ruined his chances of fulfilling his dreams. I am hoping that it is not too late, and I would truly appreciate any help or suggestions that you can offer.

Thank you!

[joe.accountant]

Is there a Police Explorer Post near where you live? If you're not sure try and look it up on the local police department's website or trying calling the business line to find out.]

Thank you! That's a great suggestion. Nothing is mentioned on our local PD's website, but I will contact them and see if they know where the closest post is. This may help with the discipline issue mentioned above also.

[GoDirectly2Jail]

Welcome aboard. It's good to have you.

BTW, from reading some of the posts here, there seems to be a strict "no grammatical or typographical error" policy.

Don't worry too much about it. It's more for actual applicants, to remind them that 'texting as typing' is not an appropriate form of communication. Interested dads get somewhat of a pass. (But if you're TOO fast and loose with the errors, we'll all be wondering about your accounting skills, though! :D )

[joe.accountant]

Gummy bear tester, huh? How do I find opening for that job? :p

I just thought of this last night and thought I'd share just for laughs and giggles:

I actually WAS, in a sense, a gummy bear tester back in high school. I worked in a movie theater and we would have this one candy manufacturer come in once a while with novelty candy that they wanted to test in "hip" places. We were supposed to hand them out to our patrons and get their feedback, but mostly we just ate the candy ourselves (BAD, I know).

This one time they gave us what we called "pregnant gummy bears". They were gummy candy shaped like bears, but they had these HUGE liquid-filled bellies. You'd bite them and their bellies would pop and the liquid would just squirt out in your mouth (presuming your mouth was fully closed). They were so GROSS, especially the red ones. For some odd reason, they never made it on the shelves. :confused:

However, I did keep one freak bear in a jar in my bedroom, next to my dead fly collection (all of them died of natural causes, BTW), but it somehow got lost when we moved (along with the flies). I suspect my mom had something to do with that... :mad:

[ruby0711]

any idea on how I can get him to understand that there are times when he simply has to do what somebody tells him to do regardless of whether he agrees with them or not? I just can't see him in the academy following orders without having a debate first. He really is very undisciplined, which is primarily my fault. Mom's not in the picture. I just never have been a "Yes, Sir. No, Sir." kind of dad. I would hate to think that I have ruined his chances of fulfilling his dreams. I am hoping that it is not too late, and I would truly appreciate any help or suggestions that you can offer.

Thank you!

First, I have to say you seem to be a great dad, pro-active parenting is something that I rarely see these days, you have my respect in how you are dealing with your teen.

The behavior you describe is just...so...normal for that age. As a mom of a 17 year old (he will be 18 in less than a month :eek, I can say with a relative degree of certainly...

No. Debating with parents is a part of being a teen. :p

If he is taking kittens and blowing them up in the back yard..well, then you need to worry.


Listen to what other adults say about your kid...teachers, your friends and others.

Those teen years are tough...those are the years when you can truly understand why some mammals eat their young.... :p

Welcome to the board...

[Jynkxxie]

He can tell right from wrong. That's really just common sense anyway. He works hard, is very responsible, great athlete (with a brain). The only thing that really worries me is that he is a very bright kid and sometimes very opinionated. I could just see him get into a verbal argument with a superior if he disagrees with something. He's not agressive or disrespectful, he just has a hard time simply accepting someone else's opinion or direction if he feels that something does not make "sense" or if there is a better way of doing it. And he could talk a fish into buying bottled water. Perhaps he should be a politician or lawyer...

Any idea on how I can get him to understand that there are times when he simply has to do what somebody tells him to do regardless of whether he agrees with them or not? I just can't see him in the academy following orders without having a debate first. He really is very undisciplined, which is primarily my fault. Mom's not in the picture. I just never have been a "Yes, Sir. No, Sir." kind of dad. I would hate to think that I have ruined his chances of fulfilling his dreams. I am hoping that it is not too late, and I would truly appreciate any help or suggestions that you can offer.

Thank you!

Well I am not a police officer, but I am sure when the time comes, he won't have any problem submitting to an instructors authority at the academy, if that is the route he chooses. If not, well he won't get very far. He is still pretty young, and you are still his dad, so of course he is going to debate you. LOL Aging is a beautiful thing. I am new to parenting myself, so I am sure there is more that you can teach me, for now I am just enjoying the fact that mine doesn't speak!

P.S. There is nothing wrong in being opinionated. ;) It's how its delivered sometimes that gets people in trouble.

[Pookie44]

Welcome to RP:D