So many questions, I barely know where to start.
Why did a 12 year old even have a parent’s credit card?
Why did he have possession of his own passport? (Ours were kept in a lockbox unless kids were travelling - eventually they got them around college age to keep themselves).
Not to mention all the adults who enabled his travel without questions.
Wow, that kid is going places (and I don’t mean Bali)…what a hoot !
Well…to be fair…it’s an easy plane ride and not all that far from Australia to Bali.
He at least made a nice relaxing choice!
So my theory is that by age 12, you have all the knowledge and wits you need to make your way through the world, but not the money. Think about it. I knew when I was 12 which end was up. This is from being a latch-key kid at age 6, with both parents working. In my day, this was not unusual. Lots of kids in boarding schools at age 14 are responsible for making their own way from Asia to their boarding schools in CT, by way of NYC taking trains, planes and ubers. It’s done routinely. The parents’ mistake was giving him a credit card. Have credit card, will travel…
Love the quote from the grandma!
^^^she gets it, smart kids can do amazing things and can even get in their own way. If only smart kids could harness it into doing good, and so many do.
Don’t let my kiddos see this! They know how to access their passports and it’s not like I lock up my purse/wallet around the house…
It’s an amusing story only because it has a happy ending. I agree that it never should have happened. There’s a problem with a child who believes that this is okay (is he that bent on revenge?) and huge problems with all the adults he encountered who probably smiled and nodded as they let him advance from one stage to the next of his journey.
I have no idea how the parents deal with this kid as he gets older! Yikes!
Topic for College essay? Check.
Only if you realized what a jerk you wete afterwards. Message that I let my temper get the better of me and was so inconsiderate regarding the concern my disappearance would cause doesn’t scream “Let me live on your campus”.
I didn’t find this humorous. The problem is that they didn’t deal with this kid as a toddler, complicated by what appears to be overcompensation due to divorce. Mom says he doesn’t like the word “no”. Mom and dad and their lack of parenting skills were the first problem. They need serious help in the parenting department. Counseling for everyone will be far more than the $6,000 cost of defiance.
Sounds like the parents and grandma are at a loss on how to raise this child with limits. I hope he and his folks aren’t getting to keep a penny from the interviews of his trip, but I doubt that is the case. I’m glad our kids never tried to bolt like that! That would freak me out, big time. Sounds like some intensive counseling is needed.
The parents knew he intended to fly somewhere because they tried to have his passport flagged after his first 2 attempts to book tickets failed, but it doesn’t appear they did much of anything else. In their complaints about how easy the airport and hotel made it for an unaccompanied minor to travel, they seem to have left out their own contributions to his efforts. Don’t the banks in Australia have safety deposit boxes for holding passports and other important documents? I wonder how long it was between the actual argument until he was drinking beer on the beach. I agree that there’s an issue with limits, and now they’ve added media coverage to the mix. It doesn’t sound like there were any negative consequences to his little jaunt.
This sounds a lot like the most recent Martha Grimes novel.
Reading the article, it’s not hard to see why he is the way he is. The Mum blames everyone except her son or herself for what happened. While I agree it shouldn’t have been so easy for him to get to Bali, she does not seem to take any responsibility for his actions nor expect him to. And if that was my kid he would not be getting to go on TV and talk about his “adventure”.
Have to admit my first though was “I wish I could run away to Bali!”
He was in Bali 4 days before they figured out where he was. Didn’t anyone think to check the credit card charges?
What I don’t understand is why when the parents knew well in advance that he was trying to leave the country, they didn’t just TAKE his passport away from him. And then, why didn’t they simply call the credit card company and report it stolen? Yes, it is a PITA, but better than having your 12 yr old on the loose internationally!
It’s always the mother’s fault… isn’t it?
That kid is either going to go very far in life, or end up in prison after being caught in a huge con of epic proportions.
Hmmmm… he tried something similar before, and parent didn’t take passport. Parents didn’t check credit card charges or report card stolen. Kid and mom are invited to be interviewed on television… perhaps the parents allowed this happen, because they enjoy the publicity?
I think both parents are equally at fault. Feels like free range parenting run amok.