Admissions Question

[brookeci]

My son received an email for more information (he had been "arrested, detained..."). In June, he and 3 friends entered an unlocked/open door at school after hours, walked around, and ate an ice cream. They were taken into custody and to juvenile detention. A burglary petition was filed, but the judge released him on good behavior, with 20 community service hours. The case was dismissed. Will this prevent admission?

 

[kinnem]

My son received an email for more information (he had been "arrested, detained..."). In June, he and 3 friends entered an unlocked/open door at school after hours, walked around, and ate an ice cream. They were taken into custody and to juvenile detention. A burglary petition was filed, but the judge released him on good behavior, with 20 community service hours. The case was dismissed. Will this prevent admission?

It may or may not, which is why they asked for more information. Simply explain what occurred and I would express some contrition and lessons learned. Be honest. Anything that comes up later in a security check that wasn't covered now could be problematic. Not saying that he would be other than honest but it's always best to be forewarned.

 

[Incognito]

My son received an email for more information (he had been "arrested, detained..."). In June, he and 3 friends entered an unlocked/open door at school after hours, walked around, and ate an ice cream. They were taken into custody and to juvenile detention. A burglary petition was filed, but the judge released him on good behavior, with 20 community service hours. The case was dismissed. Will this prevent admission?

I can’t answer your question regarding chances of admission, but as a total outsider looking in, the first thing that jumps out at me when reading your post is that the way it’s written looks as though you’re using semantics in an attempt to mitigate your DS’s culpability in the incident. (I’m not saying that’s what you’re doing...just that the word choice could be construed that way.) “Unlocked/open door” - neither matters in a burglary. “Ate an ice cream” - did they bring the ice cream with them or was it stolen from the school?

I’m not at all passing judgment on the incident...kids are impulsive and do things without thinking through the consequences...I just think his best chance would be to truly own the experience and focus on the lessons learned. I would be careful not to word the explanation in a manner that, seemingly, seeks to minimize the gravity of the situation.

Full Disclosure: I’m just a teacher and parent of a wannabe cadet. Truly just offering the perspective of an outsider looking in and hoping it’s helpful.

 

[kinnem]

In agreement with Incognito. Whenever DS got in "trouble" with his unit, etc. he always was brutally honest, while trying to convey the incident itself wasn't a big deal.... but he also indicated it was always a big deal to him and he took it to heart. Saved him a couple times. Kids screw up. They know that. Not taking responsibility would be a bigger screw up.

 

[Physicsguru]

One more thing to consider...should he get an appointment, he'll have to undergo a security background check. This includes interviewing his references as well as following any leads that may come up. If the incident gets brought up in the background check and he hasn't already declared what happened, then he could be dismissed for falsifying an official document.

My opinion: answer honestly and forthrightly. Better to have all the cards on the table than to be caught trying to hide them.