Children can be pretty tough. Anywhere between 40% and 50% of married couples in the United States get divorced, and the rate is only slightly lower in Canada at 38-41%. Oftentimes, couples struggle because they weren’t prepared to raise children and figured “how hard can it be?”
Newsflash: it’s not easy.
Christmas just passed and we’re sure there were kids all over the place who had a problem with the presents they received. Some say nothing, others throw a fit, but one 7-year-old boy in Ontario took things a bit further than you’d expect from most kids.
Men’s fashion is set to surpass women’s fashion in revenue, boasting 5% annual growth from 2018 to 2020. That’s an exciting first for the fashion world, but this 7-year-old was really not thrilled with his parents’ decision to buy him snow pants for Christmas. Clothes? Really, Mom?!
So the kid called 911 to report he was unhappy with his gift and wanted the police to help sort it out. It sounds funny, but it was anything but funny to emergency dispatchers and the surprised parents who had to ensure to responders that there was no emergency. Sgt. Kerry Schmidt from the Provincial Police Department tweeted the teachable moment as a reminder to parents to teach their kids to take emergency services seriously.
“A 7-year-old just got added to the naughty list after calling 911 to tell the #OPP that the snow pants he received for #Christmas were not appreciated. #KnowWhenToCall” the tweet read.
The kid reportedly received a lesson about the seriousness of fake emergencies when officers came to their house to confirm everything was okay. There’s no word on how the parents reacted, but we’re imagining they were less thrilled that the child was with his present.
“Kids need to realize that calling 911 is critical and serious. We don’t want to waste resources going after calls that aren’t an emergency,” Schmidt said.
This instance of emergency dialing isn’t great, but we’re glad it wasn’t an emergency. It’s a bit different from the New Zealand 6-year-old who called 911 on his birthday to invite the police. They came to his party. However, in both instances, the youngsters were reminded that emergency numbers aren’t to be dialed lightly.
As for this young man in Ontario, we’re willing to bet that he won’t be misusing a 911 dial again. No matter how displeased he is with future presents.
