Some parenting moments call for creativity. Others call for courage. For Chiquita Hill, a single mom from Columbus, Georgia, it called for both.
Last month, 33-year-old Chiquita made a decision that would rattle most parents—she called the police on her 10-year-old son, Sean. Not because he broke the law, but because she feared where his growing disrespectful behavior might eventually lead.
It all began when Sean’s teacher stopped by Hill’s home with some unsettling news. The once well-behaved boy had been acting out in class, showing a pattern of disrespect—not just toward her, but toward other teachers and classmates too. When the teacher confronted him, Sean brushed her off. That was the tipping point for Hill.
Worried and upset, she started thinking hard about how to get through to her son. That’s when she came up with a bold idea.
“I knew I had to do something to shock him,” Hill later explained.
Determined to make a lasting impression, Hill contacted the Columbus Police Department. She shared everything: the teacher’s concerns, her own fears for Sean’s future, and the fact that she was raising him on her own. She didn’t know if the officers would go along with her plan—but to her relief, they understood her heart and decided to help.
So Hill set the stage. Back at home, she sat Sean down and told him plainly: he was going to be arrested because of how he’d been acting in school.
At first? It didn’t land.
“He didn’t believe me,” Hill recalled.
“When they showed up at the door, that’s when it hit him.”
Two officers arrived and approached Sean, treating the moment seriously. They told him he was being arrested for his disrespectful behavior. According to Hill, the officers did everything they could to make the moment feel real.
“He actually thought that he was going to the jail,” she said.
They cuffed Sean and walked him to their patrol car, where he sat for less than five minutes. But those few minutes made a big impact. Inside the car, the officers spoke to him gently but firmly. They asked if he understood why they were there, if he felt sorry, and they talked about how important it was to treat people—especially his mom and teachers—with respect.
Then came the turning point.
“They told him they would let him go if he promised that he would behave like a good boy,” Hill said.
And that’s when Sean broke down. He ran to his mother, crying and shaking.
“He gave me the biggest hug and said, ‘I’ll never do it again,’” Hill recalled.
The emotional moment proved Hill’s plan had worked.
“I was trying to get the point across to my son,” she said.
“If you want to be disrespectful and you want to be rude, this is what happens when bad people do bad things.”
As unconventional as it may sound, Hill’s approach is part of a broader conversation on discipline and creativity in parenting. In fact, there’s even an app—developed by a police officer—where parents can simulate a “call to the police” if their child is misbehaving. The app, featuring a character named “Sergeant Friendly,” gives parents different scripted options based on their child’s actions, even offering a reward call if they turn things around. While it may be more effective for younger kids and comes off a bit cheesy, it shows that some parents are thinking outside the box to keep their children on the right path.
In Chiquita Hill’s case, the results were immediate—and heartfelt. Her son got the message. And she hopes that moment sticks with him for life.
