Antonia Folsom was tired of her son coming home after his curfew, but some say her way of discipling the 13-year-old went too far. (Photo: GoFundMe)
A Georgia mom?s tough-love tactic for disciplining her teen son after he broke his weeknight curfew has landed her time in jail ? and her arrest has set off a debate about a parent?s right to discipline her child and when punishment crosses the line into abuse.
Last week, Antonia Folsom, a 34-year-old mother of four from Augusta, Ga., locked her 13-year-old son out of their house after he came home 15 minutes past his 9 p.m. curfew, according to an incident report cited by the Athens Banner-Herald.
The teen knocked on the door to be allowed in, but Folsom allegedly told him she was tired of his breaking curfew and made him sleep outside on a concrete patio, reports Augusta?s News Channel WJBF. His 15-year-old brother gave him a blanket and pillow.
The next morning, she reportedly told her 15-year-old not to let the younger son in the house after she left for work. The 13-year-old later called the police, who approached Folsom about where her son was. She allegedly told them that she last saw him outside at 11 p.m. and told him to come in, but he left instead.
Police brought Folsom to the county jail, where she was booked on a charge of deprivation of a minor, a misdemeanor. She?s now out on bail, and her kids are in the custody of their grandmother.
News of her arrest ignited big support for Folsom from her community, who say she?s a ?fantastic mother? to her four kids, according to WRDW. The 13-year-old has been in trouble with the law before, neighbors said, and the mom was simply trying to discipline him, reports WRDW in Augusta.
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