What would YOU do if your kid crashed your Ferrari?

I think it all depends on the attitude of your child.

There are a lot of good kids out there that were brought up right and will be productive members of society someday - perhaps even go on to be something great or cure some disease. For these kinds of kids, you probably won't even have to ever say a word and they are sorry the second it happens and will remember it for the rest of their life and might even feel guilt about it for the rest of their life. For these kinds of kids I hope their parents are smart enough to recognize that even though they made the dumbest mistake of their life, that they are after all a kid and will do stupid things and have a bit of a rebellious wild streak that flairs up from time to time.

Then there are the spoiled irresponsible, take no fault or blame in anything they do and will crash it without feeling an ounce of pain for it. These kids should be taught a huge lesson in one form or another. Chasing them around the house with a chainsaw might be a bit much but ya know.

 

Maybe I have a different outlook on things as some of you. I don’t have children, and I don’t yet own a Ferrari but none the less when I was 10 my house burned to the ground. Everything but what I was wearing and what was in my backpack was lost.

A Ferrari is just an item. All be it the most amazing piece of automotive engineering to grace the earth, its still a car. It can and would be replaced.

What would I do if my kid crashed my Ferrari? Nothing… It wouldn’t happen. He / she wouldn’t be able to drive it until he / she could crash their own. You don’t toss the keys to your 200K+ car to someone that’s only had their license for a few years. As said by other on this thread, that’s just asking for trouble.

 

Aside from the months of beatings and time out in the dungeon, it is just a car. I would be greatful she was OK. Then back to the dungeon and more beatings

 

You wouldn't have much choice but to euthanize him or her to be sure your other children learned a lesson...otherwise you risk it happening again...

 

You gentlemen who state that: "It's just stuff", are completely missing the point. Are any of you prepared to discipline your kid for stealing your car and then wrecking it? Or are you going to give a big bear-hug and and tell him that "as long as you're alright". Because if it's the latter then, I hate to say, but you are not doing your job as a parent.

First, you make sure your kid (and anyone else is alright), then you proceed straight to the punishment phase, do not pass go.
Yeah, life is more important than property, we all agree....but that does not absolve anyone from responsibility for their actions. And I'm sure if it was a stranger who stole and wrecked your car you would feel the same way.

 

the question did not say the child took the car without permission..only that he/she wrecked it. I left my then 17 year old daughter drive my TR to her high school graduation with no issues...she had a blast and had a lot of cool photos taken to remember it...

 

If I had a kid, that I raised, steal my Ferrari or other thing I cared about, and then wreck it; I'd come to the concusion that whatever I was doing in raising the kid wasn't working. Thus, I would send the kid to a military academy for 'a more disciplined approach'. This would teach the kid that there are consequences to his actions as well.

Regards,

Art S.

 

My kids are still little, but I hope that I will bring them up to be responsible enough that they could occasionally drive an Fcar for a special occasion and drive it responsibly. We'll see. For right now though, my attitude is "Step away from the Ferrari!" Of course, all I'm worried about now is a bicycle falling on it in the garage!

Birdman

P.S. Military school is the answer to the question!

 

Being fairly young myself, and a NON owner I also think some of you miss the point.

Stuff is just stuff yes, but its not "just" stuff. IMHO its bad parenting to teach children that things are nothing more than that, and that they can be replaced. They have to learn to be responsible of "stuff" and know that some stuff is VERY VERY important to some people, and almost in the category of not "stuff that can be replaced"

So yes, it is a replaceable item, but it's not something to teach the kid as a general thing. Luckily most kids now that stuff can be very important to their owners, be it dads with Ferrari's or something else, and do not just treat them as an expendable.

I have a lot of respect for other people and their proberty, and id like to think that is the reason I have been able to be behind the wheel of a Esprit, DB9, 355, 360 and a 612 all before turning 22.

*Well, I was probably a very confusing post, as I did not quite know how to translate my opinion into understandable english. But the bottomline is, while stuff is replaceable, it's not just stuff.

 

the real question is does your kid KNOW that you love them MORE than a car????
here's what i mean.

when i was 16, a friend of mine had taken his dad's prized '66 corvette out for a spin to show off. he wound up wrapping it around a tree. luckily he walked away....
and then shot himself. with a shotgun. dead at 16.

this is a true story - and a tragic one that i'll never forget.
now that i own ferraris and other really cool "stuff" and have kids of my own- i have this lesson from that experience.
1. let your kids know that they are the most important thing in your life and no material object could come close, not even all the ferraris in the world.
2. teach them to respect you and your things, especially something that could kill them like a ferrari.
3. remember to let them know number 1 over and over again!

i hope this tragic story helps some others out there who have the kid/ferrari situation to deal with. i also hope it helps some younger members realize how fragile and important life is!!!

 

Great post you pretty much summarized what is truelly important. I'm truelly sorry about your friend BUT that lead's me to think he had bigger personal issue's than just wrecking a car. Believe me I know too much about dear friend's commiting suicide as I had 4 of them who did just that.

 

Wonderful post! Thank you, Ferraridigest!

 

I 100% agree with you! It's ALL about parental guidance. I got a Ferrari (308GTS QV) in 1983. I was 16 years old. I wouldn't have got one if I wasn't responable enough. My parents knew better than I did if I was ready. I'm talking years of Karting, Years of go-carts, and years behind the wheel with a FAST car and my father in the passenger seat. Illegal I know but hey, it paid off. Don't get me wrong, I did do stupid things here and there but I knew the limit of the cars EVERYTIME!!!!! and i'd NEVER cross it. Came close but NEVER crossed! So I think it's the parents judgement on this one. And the parents would be to blame to give there child a loaded gun.

 

Well, there goes college, kid..over..

 

A good reason that they are called "kids" is that they aren't adults, not responsible. They are growing up. That generally means that they make mistakes. It's part of the growing process. Happened to me, and I'm sure it happened to you. We all make mistakes. How we were treated when that happened usually determines what we will do when our kids misbehave. Sometimes that involves punishment, sometimes not. It depends on the circumstances, all of them. If you have kids, they have my sympathy.

Art

 

Good post '2000YELLOW360' !

Chicane,
Why dont you show us were 'stealing the car' is impled in the OP? It seem's 99% of us put our kid's well being above a material object even if it is a Ferrari. Believe me when I had to make 'that call' to my parent's after totalling one of my car's they were very unhappy to say the least. After they saw the extent of the damage to the car and that I walked away from the accident nothing else was said other than "I hope you have learned a valuable lesson from this and you are now back at step one to earning our trust again". Any person with the slightest common sense know's that having your parent's trust, who love you more than life itself, is one of the biggest if not the biggest thing as a young adult.

 

The thread here on the ORIGINAL forum is entitled: "What Happens When A 16 Year Old Steals............ "
http://www.thewolfweb.com/message_topic.aspx?topic=507055

Now I don't care if the kid stole his dad's car or not. If the parent gave him the keys he is negligent and should be arrested for child endangerment. If the kid took the car without permission then he should pay a price as well. Either way, a 16 year old should be driving a car of that type....period. I think the most import part of being a parent is teaching your kids responsibility. Responsibility for their own actions and responsibility to respect the people around them. Making mistakes is one thing. Killing someone in the process of "growing up" is something else entirely.

 

Once my children reached driving age, I got rid of my Porsche so that just such an event would not occur. Of course, my worry was not the car but the well being of the children. I was without any kind of driving "toy" until the last of the three graduated from college, about 10 years. It is then that I bought my roadster and a motorcycle. I got very tired of driving vans and boring sedans but never regretted the decision. Especially since each of them had some sort of driving incident that could have been very bad at higher speed. As they have become or get closer to parenthood, they appreciate my decision to do without when they were driving age. I think they enjoy me having my "toys" now as much as I do.

 

That's not the original thread from THIS forum hence the name ferrarichat and not thewolfweb?
http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=179080

I agree with some of what you say but I must enquire are you a parent, it does not sound like it?

 

That is THE original thread from which this thread is based.

I am the parent of a teenager. Yes, espousing personal responsibility instead of unconditional love and a life without consequences does sound very un-parent-like in this day and age doesn't it?

http://blog.mlive.com/chronicle_opinion/2007/12/barney_must_die.html#more

 

I see no need to get rid of my fun that I have worked so hard for just because I am worried about them wrecking it one day. Just don't teach them to drive a stick and hide the keys.

 

For some reason you remind me of my stepfather who thought a firm slap, or even the more the occasion punch, against my head was more meanigfull than treating me with respect and above all the understanding from someone who was meant to be looking after my physical as well as mental well being. Getting alittle to combative for the overall good of this thread so let's just 'agree to disagree' ok?

Merry Christmas and may the new year bring you and your family health and prosperity.

 

I want them to learn to drive a stick. Just not in a car that they can't control.

 

Respect runs two ways my friend. I am all for laying out their responsibilities (school, chores, family, church, etc.) then leaving them alone. If they fulfill their responsibilities then they get to enjoy the stuff that they like (friends, hobbies, boyfriend, girlfriend, etc.).
If not then they don't get to enjoy any of that stuff.

You remind me of the type that won't punish a kid under any circumstances (i.e. life without consequences). I would rather be a bastard now then a bail bondsman later.

 

You dont know me very well so dont let my post fool you because I do..... ah screw it life's to short for this non-sense.